{{translation|'''Jiraiya'''|自来也|Jiraiya}} was one of the legendary [[Sannin]] of [[Konohagakure]], along with [[Tsunade]] and [[Orochimaru]], who were trained by the [[Third Hokage]]. He was a powerful shinobi and the self-proclaimed super-pervert (although, at least in the manga, he meant it as a joke),<ref>''Naruto'' chapter91, page 11</ref> and the writer of the popular adult fiction book series, called ''[[Icha Icha]]''. He was also known as the {{translation|'''Toad Sage'''|蝦蟇仙人|Gama Sennin}}, because of his signature[[toad]] [[summoning]]s and hisstatusasa [[sage]], whowasprophesiedtobedestinedtoteach the [[Childof the Prophecy]]who would eitherbringpeace to theworld,ordestroyitentirely.

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{{translation|'''Jiraiya'''|自来也|Jiraiya}} was one of [[Konohagakure]]'slegendary [[Sannin]]. He was known as the {{translation|'''Toad Sage'''|蝦蟇仙人|Gama Sennin}} because of his specialaffinity for [[toads]]. Famed as a hermit and pervertofstupendousskill, Jiraiyatravelledtheworldinsearchofknowledge that would help his friends, the variousnovels he wrote, and, posthumously, the worldin its entirety – knowledge that would bepassedon to hisgodsonandfinalstudent,[[Naruto Uzumaki]].

== Background ==

== Background ==

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[[File:3sannin.jpg|thumb|left|Team Hiruzen.]]

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[[File:Team hiruzen.png|thumb|left|Team Hiruzen.]]

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As a child, Jiraiya and his former team-mates [[Orochimaru]] and [[Tsunade]], were students of the [[Third Hokage]]. Jiraiya's relation with his [[Team Hiruzen|team]] practically mirrored that of the future [[Team 7]], with Jiraiya being quite similar to Naruto. After leaving the Third's tutelage, he travelled the world.

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As a child, Jiraiya and his then-team-mates [[Orochimaru]] and [[Tsunade]], were students of the [[Third Hokage]]. Jiraiya's relationship with his [[Team Hiruzen|team]] practically mirrored that of the future [[Team 7]], with Jiraiya being quite similar to Naruto, being the clumsy and reckless member of the team. At various times, he would try to impress Tsunade, only to embarrass himself.<ref>''Naruto: Shippūden'' episode 361</ref> Jiraiya at some point discovered the [[Mount Myōboku|residence]] of the toads. This happened, in the anime, when still the Third's student; after seeing the Third perform the [[Summoning Technique]], Jiraiya tried to use it himself. Since he did not have a contract, Jiraiya was reversed summoned to Mount Myōboku.<ref>''Naruto: Shippūden'' episode 127</ref> There, he learned to have a natural affinity for their variety of ninjutsu techniques. He was also trained in [[senjutsu]]. After leaving the Third's tutelage, he travelled the world, where he was later called upon by the [[Great Toad Sage]] who made a prophecy concerning Jiraiya: that he would someday choose whether one of his students saved or destroyed the world.

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Jiraiya at some point discovered the [[MountMyōboku|residence]]of the toads, a species he proved to have a natural affinity for. In the anime this is shown to have occurred when he was still the Third's student; after seeing the Third perform the [[Summoning Technique]], Jiraiya tried to use it himself. Since he did not have a contract, Jiraiyawasreversedsummonedto Mount Myōboku, where the [[Great Toad Sage]] made a prophecy concerning Jiraiya: that he would someday choose whether one of his students saved or destroyed the world. During his time with the toads, he trained in [[senjutsu]].

During the [[Second Shinobi World War]], Jiraiya and his former team-mates fought [[Hanzō]], the leader of [[Amegakure]]. Hanzō was so impressed that they could survive in a fight with him, that he bestowed upon them the title of Konoha's {{translation|"Legendary Three Ninja"|伝説の三忍|Densetsu no Sannin}}, and that they accept the title in exchange for letting them live. Once the battle was over, Jiraiya and his team-mates encountered [[Ame Orphans|three young orphans]] from Amegakure. While Orochimaru suggested they kill them to spare them the cruelty of the world, Jiraiya decided to look after them for a while and teach them [[ninjutsu]]. During the time he spent with them, Jiraiya grew close to the three children, and even wrote a book that was inspired by one of them, [[Nagato]]. Eventually, he left them so that they could pursue their own goals. Although news of their exploits reached him from time to time, he thought they had died during an undisclosed incident.

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During the [[SecondShinobi World War]], Jiraiya and his former team-mates fought [[Hanzō]], the leader of [[Amegakure]]. Hanzō was so impressed that they could survive in a fight with him, that he bestowed upon them the title of Konoha's {{translation|"Legendary Three Ninja"|伝説の三忍|Densetsu no Sannin}}, and that they accept the title in exchange for letting them live. Once the battle was over, Jiraiya and his team-mates encountered [[Ame Orphans|three young orphans]] from Amegakure. While Orochimaru suggested they kill them to spare them the cruelty of the world, Jiraiya decided to look after them for a while and teach them [[ninjutsu]]. During the time he spent with them, Jiraiya grew close to the three children, and even wrote a book that was inspired by one of them, [[Nagato]]. Eventually, he left them so that they could pursue their own goals. Although news of their exploits reached him from time to time, he thought them to have died during an undisclosed incident.

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[[File:Teamjiraiya.png|thumb|left|Team Jiraiya.]]

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Jiraiya later became the teacher of [[Minato Namikaze]] and two other unknown [[genin]]. Jiraiya took particular interest in Minato, taking him as an apprentice, and among other things teaching him the [[Summoning Technique]] and [[senjutsu]]. At some point, he also told Minato about the prophecy the Great Toad Sage had given him, believing that Minato could be the Child of the Prophecy.

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[[File:TeamJiraiya.jpg|thumb|left|Team Jiraiya.]]

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Later, Jiraiya's first book, ''[[TheTale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi]]'', failed to be a best-seller. Minato, now the Fourth [[Hokage]], thought the book was excellent, and praised Jiraiya, saying that the protagonist resembled him greatly. It was then that Minato revealed that he and [[Kushina Uzumaki]], who was pregnant at the time, wanted to raise their child to be a great shinobi, like the one in the book, and for that reason they decided to name him [[Naruto Uzumaki|"Naruto"]], after the main character. Jiraiya jokingly pointed out that it would make him Naruto's godfather, and asked if they were sure that they would want that. Minato replied that Jiraiya was a good example for them all and that he could not think of a finer shinobi than him.<ref name="chpt382">Chapter 382, pages 8-11</ref>

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Once becoming a [[jōnin]] and capable of leading a squad, Jiraiya became the teacher of [[Minato Namikaze]] and two other unknown genin. Jiraiya took particular interest in Minato, taking him as an apprentice, and amongst other things teaching him the [[Summoning Technique]]. At some point, he also told Minato about the prophecy the Great Toad Sage had given him, believing that Minato could be the Child of the Prophecy.

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Later,Jiraiya'sfirst book, ''[[TheTaleoftheUtterlyGutsyShinobi(novel)|TheTale of theUtterly Gutsy Shinobi]]'',failed to be a best-seller. Minato, now the Fourth [[Hokage]],thoughtthebookwasexcellent,andpraisedJiraiya,sayingthattheprotagonistresembled him greatly. It was then that Minato revealed that he and [[Kushina Uzumaki]], whowaspregnantatthetime, wanted to raise their child to be a greatshinobi,likethe one in thebook,andforthatreasontheydecidedtonamehim[[NarutoUzumaki|"Naruto"]], after the main character. Jiraiya jokingly pointed out that itwouldmakehimNaruto'sgodfather,andaskedifthey were sure that they would want that. Minato replied that Jiraiya was a good example for them all and thathecouldnotthinkofa finer shinobi than him.<ref name="chpt382">''Naruto'' chapter 382, pages8-11</ref>

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Intheanime, sometimeafterbecomingajōnin,Jiraiyaencounteredthe[[Former Leader of NadeshikoVillage|leader]] of the [[Nadeshiko Village]] afterhetrespassedintohervillagetodo"research"forhisnextnovel. After he escaped, shepursuedhimandchallengedhim to a duelforhishand in marriage.Thismatchwashoweverpostponed,asneitherpartywasmakingheadwayagainst the other. Jiraiya promised that theirstudentsinsteadshouldonedayseekeachotherout and fightifthetwonevermetagain.<ref>''Naruto: Shippūden'' episode235</ref>

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Years later, when Orochimaru betrayed Konoha and left the village, Jiraiya pursued him, trying to convince his friend to come back (similar to Naruto's efforts to bring Sasuke home). Orochimaru refused, and attacked Jiraiya. While he tried to find a reason for Orochimaru's defection, Jiraiya eventually realised that his friend wasn't coming back. Feeling that he was responsible for Orochimaru's escape, Jiraiya left Konoha so he could follow Orochimaru's movements, as well as those of "[[Akatsuki]]", an organisation which Orochimaru had eventually joined. In doing so, Jiraiya was unable to fulfil the Third's wishes of him taking on the role of Hokage, feeling that tracking down Orochimaru was more important.

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Years later, when Orochimaru betrayed Konoha and left the village, Jiraiya pursued him, trying to convince his friend to come back (similar to Naruto's efforts to bring Sasuke home). Orochimaru refused, and attacked Jiraiya. While he tried to find a reason for Orochimaru's defection, Jiraiya eventually realised that his friend wasn't coming back. Feeling that he was responsible for Orochimaru's escape, Jiraiya left Konoha so he could follow Orochimaru's movements, as well as those of "[[Akatsuki]]", an organisation which Orochimaru had eventually joined. In doing so, Jiraiya was unable to fulfil the Third's wishes of him taking on the role of [[Hokage]], feeling that tracking down Orochimaru was more important.

== Personality ==

== Personality ==

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Although he left Konoha for many years, Jiraiya was still loyal to his hometown. When Konoha found itself in need of a new Hokage after the Third Hokage's death, Jiraiya volunteered to look for Tsunade so that she could be the [[Fifth Hokage]], after turning down the position himself. His reason for refusing the position was, among other things, that he felt unworthy to take the role, since he had failed to save either of the previous Hokage from dying, as well as him having to conduct more "''research''". After he found Tsunade, and began to suspect that she might be helping Orochimaru, he made it clear that he would kill her if she betrayed the village, a proof of his loyalty to Konoha. However, once it became clear that Tsunade was still loyal to Konoha, and later accepted the title of Hokage, Jiraiya served as her most trusted adviser, loyal confidant, and a spy into the dealings of Akatsuki and Konoha's enemies.

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Although he left Konoha for many years, Jiraiya was still loyal to his village. When Konoha found itself in need of a new Hokage after the Third Hokage's death, Jiraiya volunteered to look for Tsunade so that she could be the [[Fifth Hokage]], after turning down the position himself. His reason for refusing the position was, among other things, that he felt unworthy to take the role, since he had failed to save either of the previous Hokage from dying, or stop Orochimaru from turning traitor, as well as him having to conduct more "''research''". After he found Tsunade, and began to suspect that she might be helping Orochimaru, he made it clear that he would kill her if she betrayed the village, a proof of his loyalty to Konoha. However, once it became clear that Tsunade was still loyal to Konoha, and later accepted the title of Hokage, Jiraiya served as her most trusted adviser, loyal confidant, and a spy into the dealings of Akatsuki and Konoha's enemies.

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Jiraiya was a self-proclaimed super-pervert with no equal, and a frequent voyeur, going so far as to create the [[TransparentEscape Technique]], to allow him to spy on naked women without being caught (doing "research" as he called it, even as a child). He never actually hid his perversion, and even seemed proud of it, as seen when he told the Third Hokage about it when he was still a child. Despite this, Jiraiya disliked being referred to as the {{translation|'''Perverted Hermit'''|エロ仙人|Ero-sennin|engtv=PervySage}}by Naruto in front of others.

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[[File:PervertedJiriya.png|thumb|right|Jiraiya'spervertednature.]]

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Jiraiya was a self-proclaimed super-pervert with no equal (although he meant it as a joke),<ref>Chapter 91, page 11</ref> and a frequent voyeur, going so far as to create the [[Transparent Escape Technique]], to allow him to spy on naked women without being caught (doing "research" as he called it, even as a child). He never actually hid his perversion, and even seemed proud of it, as seen when he told the Third Hokage about it when he was still a child. Despite this, Jiraiya disliked being referred to as the {{translation|'''Perverted Hermit'''|エロ仙人|Ero-sennin|engtv=Pervy Sage}} by Naruto in front of others.

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Jiraiya's perversion had been used against him on occasions, as seen when Naruto got Jiraiya to start training him after a simple display of the [[Sexy Technique]] (though Naruto hit a roadblock when Jiraiya wanted him to use the technique around him when training). When two Akatsuki memberslater tried to distract Jiraiya, they used a hypnotised woman to catch his eye and keep him busy. While their effort initially succeeded, Jiraiya eventually saw through their plot, due solely to the fact that women did not typically express interest in him. His peeping habits had also caused him great injury on one occasion; when caught spying on Tsunade in his younger years, she proceeded to break both of his arms, six of his ribs, and ruptured a number of organs as punishment. As a result of such injuries, Jiraiya now retained a rather healthy fear towards his former team-mate, and usually attempted to suppress his perverted ways when in Tsunade's presence. Despite these perverted tendencies, Jiraiya was in love with Tsunade nonetheless and even as he died, he lamented the fact that he was never able to win her heart.

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Jiraiya's perversion had been used against him on occasions, as seen when Naruto got Jiraiya to start training him after a simple display of the [[Sexy Technique]] (though Naruto hit a roadblock when Jiraiya wanted him to use the technique around him when training). When [[Itachi Uchiha|two]] Akatsuki [[KisameHoshigaki|members]] tried to distract Jiraiya, they used a hypnotised woman to catch his eye and keep him busy. While their effort initially succeeded, Jiraiya eventually saw through their plot, due solely to the fact that women did not typically express interest in him. His peeping habits had also caused him great injury on one occasion; when caught spying on Tsunade in his younger years, she proceeded to break both of his arms, six of his ribs, and ruptured a number of organs as punishment. As a result of such injuries, Jiraiya now retained a rather healthy fear towards his former team-mate, and usually attempted to suppress his perverted ways when in Tsunade's presence. Despite these perverted tendencies, Jiraiya was in love with Tsunade nonetheless and even as he died, he lamented the fact that he was never able to win her heart. However, despite his one-sided affections for his team-mate, Jiraiya didn't let his feelings cloud his judgment and resolutely stated that he wouldn't hesitate to kill Tsunade should she betray Konoha and help Orochimaru.

Some time after leaving Konoha, Jiraiya became the author of a series of adult novels called ''[[Icha Icha]]''. The novels were based on his personal experiences in love, that he retold in a comical way. In a filler episode of the anime, Naruto ghost-wrote one of Jiraiya's ''Icha Icha'' novels. The book was found to be very popular. This indicates that either Naruto is capable of writing on the same level as Jiraiya, or that Jiraiya's writing abilities were no better than those of a child. Tsunade seemed to suspect that the latter was true, as she noted that a report he wrote as a child, accompanied by crude crayon illustrations, was poorly written. The popularity of the ''Icha Icha'' series seemed to have paid off well, as Jiraiya's cheque book revealed that he was fairly wealthy. Despite his wealth, Jiraiya was not above taking Naruto's money and spending it on sake and women. Jiraiya frequently disappeared when Naruto attempted to make him pay.

Some time after leaving Konoha, Jiraiya became the author of a series of adult novels called ''[[Icha Icha]]''. The novels were based on his personal experiences in love, that he retold in a comical way. In a filler episode of the anime, Naruto ghost-wrote one of Jiraiya's ''Icha Icha'' novels. The book was found to be very popular. This indicates that either Naruto is capable of writing on the same level as Jiraiya, or that Jiraiya's writing abilities were no better than those of a child. Tsunade seemed to suspect that the latter was true, as she noted that a report he wrote as a child, accompanied by crude crayon illustrations, was poorly written. The popularity of the ''Icha Icha'' series seemed to have paid off well, as Jiraiya's cheque book revealed that he was fairly wealthy. Despite his wealth, Jiraiya was not above taking Naruto's money and spending it on sake and women. Jiraiya frequently disappeared when Naruto attempted to make him pay.

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[[File:Jiraiya pose.png|thumb|Jiraiya posing.]]

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[[File:Jiraiya pose.png|thumb|left|Jiraiya posing.]]

Jiraiya had also been known to show off, even during a fight. This showing off typically included traditional [[Wikipedia:Kabuki|kabuki]] poses accompanied by dramatic self-introductions, keeping with his hermit theme, even when he was a child.<ref>''Naruto'' episode 127</ref> He became annoyed if he was interrupted for whatever reason while trying to strike a pose, which happened frequently. His summon [[Gama]] however was the only toad he ever summoned that posed along with him. Although he was generally light-hearted and gregarious, Jiraiya could be very serious in a demanding situation, such as fighting Orochimaru, and later, Pain. He was also quite perceptive, as demonstrated when he watched Naruto try to walk over the surface of shallow water; Jiraiya quickly discerned that there was something within Naruto that was disrupting the chakra's circulation through his body.

Jiraiya had also been known to show off, even during a fight. This showing off typically included traditional [[Wikipedia:Kabuki|kabuki]] poses accompanied by dramatic self-introductions, keeping with his hermit theme, even when he was a child.<ref>''Naruto'' episode 127</ref> He became annoyed if he was interrupted for whatever reason while trying to strike a pose, which happened frequently. His summon [[Gama]] however was the only toad he ever summoned that posed along with him. Although he was generally light-hearted and gregarious, Jiraiya could be very serious in a demanding situation, such as fighting Orochimaru, and later, Pain. He was also quite perceptive, as demonstrated when he watched Naruto try to walk over the surface of shallow water; Jiraiya quickly discerned that there was something within Naruto that was disrupting the chakra's circulation through his body.

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Despite Jiraiya's eccentric behaviour and prowess as a shinobi, he was a strong believer in peace; his hope being to one day end the hatred that plagued the ninja world. Jiraiya also held a great deal of faith in the next generation, and saw them as the answer to this hate.

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Despite Jiraiya's eccentric behaviour and prowess as a shinobi, he was a strong believer in peace; his hope being to one day end the hatred that plagued the ninja world. Jiraiya also held a great deal of faith in the next generation, and saw them as the solution to this hate.

== Appearance ==

== Appearance ==

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[[File:Jiraiya.png|thumb|left|200px|Jiraiya.]]

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[[File:Jiraiya full.png|thumb|right|Jiraiya's full appearance.]]

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Jiraiya was a tall man with waist-length, spiky white hair usually tied back into a pony tail, with two shoulder-length bangs that framed both sides of his face. He also had red lines that ran down from his eyes and wore a horned forehead protector with the kanji for {{translation|'Oil'|油|abura}}, which denotes his affiliation with Mount Myōboku. He also had a noticeable wart on the right side of his nose. Jiraiya wore a green short shirt kimono and matching pants; under which he wore mesh armour that showed out of the sleeves and legs of his outfit. His outfit was completed with hand guards, a simple black belt, traditional Japanese [[Wikipedia:Geta (footwear)|geta]] (wooden sandals), a red [[wikipedia:haori|haori]] with two simple yellow circles on each side, and a scroll on his back. He also had a tattoo in his left palm which resembles one that [[Gama]] has in his as well.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 91, page 3</ref>

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Jiraiya was a tall man with waist-length, spiky white hair usually tied back into a pony tail, with two shoulder-length bangs that framed both sides of his face. He also had red lines that ran down from his eyes and wore a horned forehead protector with the kanji for {{translation|'Oil'|油|abura}}, which denotes his affiliation with Mount Myōboku. He also had a noticeable wart on the left side of his nose. Jiraiya wore a green short shirt kimono and matching pants; under which he wore mesh armour that showed out of the sleeves and legs of his outfit. His outfit was completed with hand guards, a simple black belt, traditional Japanese [[Wikipedia:Geta (footwear)|geta]] (wooden sandals), a red [[wikipedia:haori|haori]] with two simple yellow circles on each side, and a scroll on his back. He also had a tattoo in his left palm which resembles one that [[Gama]] has in his as well.<ref>Chapter 91, page 3</ref>

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Jiraiya was also seen sporting different attires. As a child, he wore pale grey robes with a design of red flames on the edges, with a green ribbon showing a curled gold design tied in a loose bow around his waist. In childhood, the length of the red lines that ran down his eyes extended to just over half his face, but became longer in time. Underneath it, he wore the standard black mesh shirt with red lining, and wore puffy black pants that are tighter around the ankles as well as black sandals to go with the outfit. During the Second Great Shinobi War against Hanzō, he wore greygarbwithmetalarmour. He was also shown wearing what appeared to be a rubber frog suit during a flash back to when he was training the [[Ame Orphans]].

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Jiraiya was also seen sporting different attires. As a child, he wore pale grey robes with a design of red flames on the edges, with a green ribbon showing a curled gold design tied in a loose bow around his waist. In childhood, the length of the red lines that ran down his eyes extended to just over half his face, but became longer in time. Underneath it, he wore the standard black mesh shirt with red lining, and wore puffy black pants that are tighter around the ankles as well as black sandals to go with the outfit. During the Second Great Shinobi War against Hanzō, he wore thewartimevariantofKonoha's [[flak jacket]] and its standard forehead protector. He was also shown wearing what appeared to be a rubber frog suit during a flash back to when he was training the [[Ame Orphans]].

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== Abilities ==

== Abilities ==

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Being one of the three Legendary [[Sannin]], Jiraiya was an extremely powerful shinobi, easily considered [[Kage]]-level,andwas initially chosen for the position of Fifth Hokage by the [[Konoha Council]], though he turned it down.<ref>''Naruto''chapter140,page10</ref> He stated that he had only been brought to the verge of death twice in his entirelife, once when he was doing "research" on [[Tsunade]] herself, (and being beaten to a pulp by her for doing so), and when he used the toad key to weaken the Nine-Tails' seal on Naruto's stomach and resulting in Naruto's [[Naruto Uzumaki's Jinchūriki Forms#Four-Tailed Form|four-tailed form]], the latter only happening because he was trying to reseal the demon chakra rather than harm Naruto.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 291, pages 8-9</ref>

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[[File:Ultra-BigBallRasengan.png|thumb|left|JiraiyaattackingPainwithone of his strongesttechniques.]]

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As one of the Legendary [[Sannin]], Jiraiya was one of the most powerful shinobi in history, easily considered [[Kage]]-level. Likewise, he was offered on two separate occasions to be Hokage. During the [[Konoha Crush]], Jiraiya was noted by [[Ebisu]] to be the only shinobi strong enough to defeat Orochimaru, a prodigy in his own right. Indeed, he could match Orochimaru in battle while they were both equally handicapped during their reunion. Jiraiya skills were such that he could defeat Naruto in his [[Jinchūriki Forms#Version 2|four-tailed form]], something that Orochimaru was unable to do. Even [[S-rank]] shinobi such as [[Kisame Hoshigaki]] openly admitted that Jiraiya was on another level than him and [[Itachi Uchiha]] admitted that the best he could do against Jiraiya was a stalemate, even with reinforcements. Even his former students such as [[Konan]] couldn't defeat him despite becoming a powerful S-rank kunoichi herself, and [[Nagato]] openly admitted that Jiraiya would have defeated him if he knew the secret of his [[Six Paths of Pain|technique]]. Even [[Minato Namikaze]], who became the Fourth Hokage, openly acknowledged his former master's prowess and wished to fight him.

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His strength was so great that even powerful members of Akatsuki either were easily subdued like [[Konan]],<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 372, pages 6-7</ref> while others like [[Itachi Uchiha]] and [[Kisame Hoshigaki]], a [[Mangekyō Sharingan]] user and former member of the [[Seven Mist Swordsmen]] respectively, opted not to face him in battle, fearing that the very best they could do together against Jiraiya would end in a stalemate.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 144, page 9</ref> Kisame even admitted that he was no match for Jiraiya saying he was "''on a whole other level''". Itachi stated that even if they had reinforcements, the result would be no different. [[Minato Namikaze]] also acknowledged his master's power, skills, and mindset.<ref name="chpt382"/> Even [[Nagato]], a former student of his, was nearly defeated despite outnumbering Jiraiya, causing the younger opponent to marvel his abilities, stating that he would not have defeated Jiraiya had he had prior knowledge of his "secret".<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 383, page 13</ref>

[[File:Jiraiyavs Pain.png|thumb|Jiraiya blinds the Human Path with a single kick.]]

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While not being his preferred combat method, Jiraiya was still very proficient with [[taijutsu]], capable of stopping some of the individual dogs that split from the [[Giant Multi-Headed Dog]] just using his legs. The[[SageMode]]enhancedhisstrength to thepointofdestroyingthe[[HumanPath(character)|HumanPath]]'seyeswith just a kickto the face, while also sending him several metresaway.Hisnaturalstrength,whilenowhereclosetohisfemaleteammateTsunade,wasvery impressive. In the anime, onesuch occasion where this is shown is when Jiraiya intervened in a fight between a young Gamabunta (who was still bigger than Jiraiya) and an unknown snake of equal size where Jiraiya grabbed and tossed the snake a great distance away with ease. InSageModehisspeedwasenhancedto the pointwerehecouldleapdownfromahighvantagepointandformanattack, beforehissandals—whichhadfallenbeforehejumped—hadevenreachedtheground.<ref>''Naruto''chapter 377, pages11-12</ref>

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While not being his preferred combat method, Jiraiya was still very proficient with [[taijutsu]], capable of stopping some of the individual dogs that split from the [[Giant Multi-Headed Dog]] using just his legs. Hisnaturalstrength,whilenowhereclose to hisformerteam-mateTsunade,wasveryimpressive,beingabletolift a largeboulder several timeshisownsizeasachildintheanime.<ref>''Naruto:Shippūden''episode127</ref>Alsoin the anime, hewas shown intervening in a fight between a young Gamabunta (who was still bigger than himself) and an unknown snake of equal size where Jiraiya grabbed and tossed the snake a great distance away with ease. Jiraiyahasshowcasedahighlevelofdurability over the courseofhislife;takinga[[DynamicEntry|directkick]]tothefacefrom[[MightGuy]],<ref>Chapter148,page12</ref>aswellassurvivingadirectblowfrom[[Nagato]]'s[[GiantOx]],which ploughed him through several steel pipes, without gettinginjured.<ref>Chapter375, page13-14</ref> He even learned the taijutsu style of [[Frog Kata]] from the toads.

Jiraiya was well-versed in a variety of [[ninjutsu]] types. He could grow and sharpen his hair for [[Wild Lion's Mane Technique|offensive]] and [[Needle Jizō|defensive]] purposes. Jiraiya was taught how to use the [[Rasengan]] by Minato, and had since developed larger variants. Intermsofelementninjutsu, Jiraiyahadproficientknowledgeifnotskillinmultipletypes.Hecoulduse earth chakra to [[EarthRelease:SwampoftheUnderworld|createdeepswamps]]toimmobilisehisopponentandfire chakra to unleash[[FireRelease:FlameBullet|largeblastsoffire]].He was alsoatleastknowledgeableenough to teach [[Yahiko]] and [[Nagato]] how to manipulate the [[Nature Transformation|nature]] of theirchakra.

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Jiraiya was well-versed in a variety of [[ninjutsu]] types. He could grow and sharpen his hair for [[Wild Lion's Mane Technique|offensive]] and [[Needle Jizō|defensive]] purposes. Jiraiya was taught how to use the [[Rasengan]] by Minato, and had since developed a [[Ultra-Big Ball Rasengan|larger variant]]. Heishighlyskilled instealth, espionage,andreconnaissance,evenhavinghisownpersonallymadetechniqueknownasthe [[TransparentEscapeTechnique]]toaidhiminsuchmissions(althoughhemainlyusesit to helphimspyonwomen).KakashinotedthatJiraiya was aspecialistwhenitcomes to infiltration and espionagetactics.

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Jiraiyawasoftendescribedasaperfectionist.HehadtheabilitytoimproviseorexpandthelimitofatechniquestothepointwhereevenanacademicorE-ranktechniquescouldmakehimanextremely formidable opponent. The [[TransparentEscapeTechnique]], created to helphimspyonwomen, eventuallyprovedtobeveryusefulinespionageandreconnaissance.

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Apartfromhisfightingabilities,Jiraiyawasveryproficientwithbarrierbasedtechniques.Exampleswouldinclude[[Barrier:CanopyMethodFormation]],whichallowedhimtodetectallmovementswithinawideradiusandblockattacks,and [[Barrier: ToadGourdPrison]], which allowed him to trapanenemyinsidethe belly of a small toad-shaped gourd, theinsideofwhichcontainsalandscapewitha lake of stomachacid.

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Apartfromhisfightingabilities,Jiraiyawasveryproficientwithbarrier based techniques. Examples would include [[Barrier: Canopy Method Formation]], whichallowedhimtodetect all movements within a wide radius andblockattacks, and [[Barrier:ToadGourdPrison]], which allowed him to trapanenemyinside the bellyofasmalltoad-shapedgourd,theinsideofwhichcontains a landscapewith a lake of stomach acid.

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Whilehehadbasicknowledgeonhowtorecogniseandcounter [[genjutsu]], hewasnotskilledatusingit, and reliedonhispartners to useillusions,likewhen the [[TwoGreatSageToads]]supportedhimwith[[DemonicIllusion:ToadConfrontationChant|a powerfulgenjutsu]].<ref>Chapter378</ref>

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Whilehehadbasic knowledge on how to recognise and counter [[genjutsu]], he was not skilled at using it, and relied on [[Two Great Sage Toads|his partners]] to use [[Demonic Illusion: Toad Confrontation Chant|illusions]].

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====NatureTransformation====

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[[File:Fire Release- Big Flame Bullet.png|thumb|right|Jiraiya using one of his Fire Release techniques.]]

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Jiraiya could utilise multiple elements which included [[Fire Release]], [[Earth Release]], [[Water Release]], and [[Wind Release]], as well as [[Yin Release]] and [[Yang Release]].<ref name="d4" /> Even when low on chakra, he could use Earth Release to [[Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld|create deep swamps]] that can immobilise opponents as large as [[Orochimaru]]'s gigantic snakes or as strong as [[Human Path (character)|Human Path]].<ref>Chapter 166</ref><ref>Chapter 378</ref> His proficiency in Fire Release is great enough to unleash [[Fire Release: Flame Bullet|oil-enhanced blasts of flame]]. With the help of [[Gamabunta]], he could produce [[Fire Release: Toad Oil Flame Bullet|a large torrent of fire]] that filled an entire valley. When in [[Sage Mode]] he could create [[Sage Art: Goemon|a lake of burning oil]] with the help of [[Fukasaku]] and [[Shima]]. His vast knowledge of ninjutsu allowed him to teach [[Nagato]] all [[Nature Transformation|five chakra natures]] (albeit it was a feat made possible by Nagato's [[Rinnegan]]).

Jiraiya was known as the "Toad Sage", due to his natural affinity for toads, and his utilisation of a number of toad-related techniques. Many typically dealt with summoning toads. He had risen to a level of ability that allowed him to summon [[Gamabunta]]. He could even summon the nearly indestructible œsophagus of a great, fire-breathing toad with [[Summoning: Toad Mouth Bind]]. Once the technique had been used to cover the area, Jiraiya could control it as he pleased, and used it to trap most ninja. Due to his training with toads, he even gained the ability to [[Toad Oil Bullet|spit oil from his mouth]].

Jiraiya was known as the "Toad Sage", due to his natural affinity for toads, and his utilisation of a number of toad-related techniques. Many typically dealt with summoning toads. He had risen to a level of ability that allowed him to summon [[Gamabunta]]. He could even summon the nearly indestructible œsophagus of a great, fire-breathing toad with [[Summoning: Toad Mouth Bind]]. Once the technique had been used to cover the area, Jiraiya could control it as he pleased, and used it to trap most ninja. Due to his training with toads, he even gained the ability to [[Toad Oil Bullet|spit oil from his mouth]].

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For spying and infiltration, Jiraiya had the [[Toad Flatness — Shadow Manipulation Technique]], which allowed him to hide himself as a shadow, and even attach to the shadow of another ninja to control them. He also had the [[Hiding in a Toad Technique]], where he hid in the belly of a small toad, which could enter most areas undetected. Kakashi noted that Jiraiya was a specialist when it comes to infiltration and espionage tactics.

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For spying and infiltration, Jiraiya had the [[Toad Flatness — Shadow Manipulation Technique]], which allowed him to hide himself as a shadow, and even attach to the shadow of another ninja to control them. He also had the [[Hiding in a Toad Technique]], where he hid in the belly of a small toad, which could enter most areas undetected.

==== Fūinjutsu ====

==== Fūinjutsu ====

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[[File:Fire seal2.PNG|thumb|left|Jiraiya's Fire Sealing Method.]]

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[[File:Fire seal2.PNG|thumb|right|Jiraiya's Fire Sealing Method.]]

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Jiraiya had been shown to be very skilled and otherwise knowledgeable with [[Sealing Technique]]s, and had used a number of them throughout the series. When first meeting Naruto, he quickly deduced that the seal on Naruto's stomach, that kept the [[Nine-Tailed Demon Fox]] sealed within him, also allowed its chakra to mix with his own. Jiraiya easily recognised the [[Five Elements Seal]] that Orochimaru had placed on top of Naruto's seal and how it was distorting Naruto's chakra and easily removed it with [[Five Elements Unseal]].

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Jiraiya had been shown to be very skilled and otherwise knowledgeable with [[Sealing Technique]]s, and had used a number of them throughout the series. When first meeting Naruto, he quickly deduced that the seal on Naruto's stomach, which kept the [[Nine-Tailed Demon Fox]] sealed within him, also allowed its chakra to mix with his own. Jiraiya easily recognised the [[Five Elements Seal]] that Orochimaru had placed on top of the seal on Naruto's stomach and how it was distorting Naruto's chakra, and he easily removed it with [[Five Elements Unseal]].

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He later created a method of suppressing the Nine-Tails' influence over Naruto through the [[Chakra-Suppressing Seal]], which activates by simply coming into contact with Naruto's body. In addition, he could utilise the [[Fire Sealing Method]] to contain even Itachi's Amaterasu within a scroll for future study.

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He later created a method of suppressing the Nine-Tails' influence over Naruto through the [[Chakra-Suppressing Seal]], which activates by simply coming into contact with Naruto's body. In addition, he could utilise the [[Fire Sealing Method]] to contain even Itachi's [[Amaterasu]] within a scroll for future study.

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=== Chakra Prowess and Control ===

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Like Naruto, Jiraiya naturally possessed exceptionally large amounts and strong levels of chakra and stamina. Its potency was able to make [[Naruto]] back down from chasing after [[Itachi]] and [[Kisame]] with a single glare and chakra spike. Even with his ability to mould chakra weakened by Tsunade's poison, he could still create a [[Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld|swamp]] which sank one of Orochimaru's massive snakes (two in the anime) and kept it completely immobilised throughout the battle. Though by Jiraiya's own admission, the technique had failed to some extent.

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He has also shown an extremely high level of chakra control as well. He could use the [[Rasengan]] in a single hand, or [[Spiralling Serial Spheres|two at once]] as well as effortlessly displaying each stage of the technique to Naruto. Even after being stabbed five times by the [[Six Paths of Pain]]'s [[Chakra Disruption Blades]], he was able to use the [[Finger Carving Seal]] despite Nagato's disruptive chakra circulating through his body.

=== Senjutsu ===

=== Senjutsu ===

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[[File:Jiraiya Sage Mode.jpg|thumb|right|Jiraiya in Sage Mode.]]

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[[File:Sage mode.png|thumb|left|Jiraiya in Sage Mode.]]

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Like Naruto, Jiraiya naturallypossessedexceptionally large amounts and strong levels of chakra and stamina. This allows him to usehismostpowerfulability:to enter [[Sage Mode]],atransformationthatallowedhimtouse [[Senjutsu|natural energy togreatlyenhance all of his abilities]].BeforeenteringSageMode,Jiraiyawillsummontheeldertoadcouple[[Shima]]and[[Fukasaku]] and have them [[Sage Art:AmphibianTechnique|fusetohisbody]]. In addition to maintaining Jiraiya's natural energy whilehefought, they added their own abilities to helphimin battle. Sage Mode greatly increased Jiraiya's physical power,asshownby his ability to sendPain'ssummons flying anduse the extremely powerful collaboration ninjutsu [[SageArt:Goemon]].ThisformallowedJiraiya to usestrongerversionsofhisothertechniques. Anexamplewouldincludethe[[Ultra-BigBallRasengan]],amassivevariantofRasenganevenlargerthanhisownbody.AsJiraiyawasnotadeptwith[[genjutsu]],hereliedonShimaandFukasakutohelphiminthataspect.

Jiraiya didn't like Sage Mode because it gave him a more toad-like appearance, with longer marks along the sides of his face, a goatee, a larger nose with warts, and webbed hands and feet, all of which made him unappealing to girls. This is due to Jiraiya not having complete mastery over the technique.

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Due to the limited nature of using Sage Mode on his own as one must remain absolutely still to gather the necessary natural energy, while before entering it, Jiraiya will summon the elder toad couple [[Shima]] and [[Fukasaku]] and have them [[Sage Art: Amphibian Technique|fuse to his body]] and absorb the energy for him. Jiraiya didn't like Sage Mode because it gave him a more toad-like appearance, with longer marks along the sides of his face, a goatee, a larger nose with warts, webbed hands and feet and sharp teeth, all of which made him unappealing to girls. This appearance is due to Jiraiya not having complete mastery over the technique.

In addition to maintaining Jiraiya's natural energy while he fought, they added their own abilities to help him in battle. Sage Mode greatly increased Jiraiya's physical power, as shown by his ability to send Pain's summons flying and use the extremely powerful cooperation ninjutsu [[Sage Art: Goemon]]. This form allowed Jiraiya to use stronger versions of his other techniques. An example would include the [[Ultra-Big Ball Rasengan]], a massive variant of Rasengan even larger than his own body. Though unseen, this version is supposedly strong enough that if it exploded, it'd have destroyed an entire mountain. As Jiraiya was not adept with [[genjutsu]], he relied on Shima and Fukasaku to help him in that aspect.

=== Intelligence ===

=== Intelligence ===

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While he would normally come off as goofy, Jiraiya had repeatedly shown himself to be a shrewd man. He was very knowledgeable in various techniques, able to quickly recognise them and know how to counter them. He also demonstrated being a capable teacher, as even Itachi acknowledged Naruto's growth under Jiraiya's tutelage for three years. Jiraiya was also very skilled in information gathering, as he would constantly relay any important intelligence he acquired to his allies.

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While he would normally come off as goofy, Jiraiya had repeatedly shown himself to be a shrewd man. His intelligence enabled him to track Orochimaru and Akatsuki through the years, and he headed his own spy network all over the [[Five Great Shinobi Countries]] for this purpose. He was very knowledgeable in various techniques, able to quickly recognise them and know how to counter them. He also demonstrated being a capable teacher, as even Itachi acknowledged Naruto's growth under Jiraiya's tutelage for three years. Jiraiya was also very skilled in information gathering, as he would constantly relay any important intelligence he acquired to his allies.

=== Stats ===

=== Stats ===

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== Part I ==

== Part I ==

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=== Chūnin Exam Arc ===

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=== Chūnin Exams ===

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Jiraiya first met [[Naruto Uzumaki]] while he was "researching" at the [[Konoha Hot Springs|hot springs in Konoha]]. After Jiraiya knocked out [[Ebisu]] for catching him in the act, Naruto demanded that Jiraiya become his trainer in Ebisu's place. He refused, until Naruto used his [[Sexy Technique]]. When they started training, Jiraiya removed Orochimaru's [[Five Elements Seal]] from Naruto's stomach, which allowed him to tap into the [[Nine-Tailed Demon Fox]]'s chakra. To teach him how to take advantage of the Nine-Tails' reserves, Jiraiya taught Naruto how to use the [[Summoning Technique]], but was met with very poor results. To this end, Jiraiya decided to force Naruto to use the Nine-Tails' chakra by pushing him off a cliff. Naruto survived by summoning [[Gamabunta]].

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Having spent years gathering information on Orochimaru and Akatsuki, and having considered the possibility they were after Naruto with the goal of obtaining the Nine-Tails, Jiraiya returned to Konoha with the goal of preparing Naruto for the upcoming threat. Jiraiya first met [[Naruto Uzumaki]] while he was doing a "research" at the [[Konoha Hot Springs|hot springs in Konoha]]. After Jiraiya knocked out [[Ebisu]] for catching him in the act, Naruto demanded that Jiraiya become his trainer in Ebisu's place. He refused, until Naruto used his [[Sexy Technique]]. When they started training, Jiraiya removed Orochimaru's [[Five Elements Seal]] from Naruto's stomach, which allowed him to tap into the [[Nine-Tailed Demon Fox]]'s chakra. To teach him how to take advantage of the Nine-Tails' reserves, Jiraiya taught Naruto how to use the [[Summoning Technique]], but was met with very poor results. To this end, Jiraiya decided to force Naruto to use the Nine-Tails' chakra by pushing him off a cliff, as he learned that it only comes whenever his life is in risk . Naruto survived the fall by summoning [[Gamabunta]].

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=== Invasion of Konoha Arc ===

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=== Konoha Crush ===

When Orochimaru began his invasion of Konoha, Jiraiya [[Summoning: Food Cart Destroyer Technique|summoned]] [[Gamahiro]] to stop Orochimaru's [[Three Giant Snakes|snakes]]. He later mourned the Third Hokage's death, but decided not to attend the funeral.

When Orochimaru began his invasion of Konoha, Jiraiya [[Summoning: Food Cart Destroyer Technique|summoned]] [[Gamahiro]] to stop Orochimaru's [[Three Giant Snakes|snakes]]. He later mourned the Third Hokage's death, but decided not to attend the funeral.

With the Third's death, the village elders, [[Homura Mitokado]] and [[Koharu Utatane]], requested that Jiraiya become the next Hokage, which he quickly turned down. Instead, he volunteered to search for his former team-mate, Tsunade, asking only that he be allowed to take Naruto with him.

With the Third's death, the village elders, [[Homura Mitokado]] and [[Koharu Utatane]], requested that Jiraiya become the next Hokage, which he quickly turned down. Instead, he volunteered to search for his former team-mate, Tsunade, asking only that he be allowed to take Naruto with him.

Just a day after setting off, however, [[Itachi Uchiha]] and [[Kisame Hoshigaki]] of [[Akatsuki]] tried to kidnap Naruto. To do so, they used [[genjutsu]] on a woman to distract Jiraiya while they captured Naruto. Jiraiya saw through the trick, and intercepted Itachi and Kisame, who decided they did not want to get involved in a fight with one of the Sannin. When they tried to escape, Jiraiya used [[Summoning: Toad Mouth Bind]] to trap Itachi and Kisame. Nobody had ever managed to escape that technique before, but Itachi used [[Amaterasu]] to burn through the walls and escaped. After that, Naruto and Jiraiya resumed their search for Tsunade, Jiraiya teaching Naruto the [[Rasengan]] along the way to keep him occupied.

Just a day after setting off, however, [[Itachi Uchiha]] and [[Kisame Hoshigaki]] of [[Akatsuki]] tried to kidnap Naruto. To do so, they used [[genjutsu]] on a woman to distract Jiraiya while they captured Naruto. Jiraiya saw through the trick, and intercepted Itachi and Kisame, who decided they did not want to get involved in a fight with one of the Sannin. When they tried to escape, Jiraiya used [[Summoning: Toad Mouth Bind]] to trap Itachi and Kisame. Nobody had ever managed to escape that technique before, but Itachi used [[Amaterasu]] to burn through the walls and escaped. After that, Naruto and Jiraiya resumed their search for Tsunade, Jiraiya teaching Naruto the [[Rasengan]] along the way to keep him occupied.

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[[File:Jiraiya vs Orochimaru.png|thumb|left|Jiraiya vs. Orochimaru.]]

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[[File:Jiraiya vs Orochimaru.png|thumb|Jiraiya vs. Orochimaru.]]

Orochimaru found Tsunade before Jiraiya did, and asked that she heal his arms. When Jiraiya eventually found her as well, he suspected that they were in contact, and threatened Tsunade not to help Orochimaru. In response, [[Tsunade]] drugged his sake when they went to a bar, making it difficult for him to move or use chakra. After he discovered that this was so he wouldn't interfere in her attempt to kill Orochimaru, Jiraiya came to help her. In his drugged state, he struggled to fight Orochimaru, but was able to recover to the point that he could summon [[Gamabunta]] to fight Orochimaru's [[Manda]]. The healthy Tsunade proved too much for Orochimaru and Manda, defeating the two and causing them to flee. Tsunade then accepted her post as the Fifth Hokage, and they returned to [[Konoha]].

Orochimaru found Tsunade before Jiraiya did, and asked that she heal his arms. When Jiraiya eventually found her as well, he suspected that they were in contact, and threatened Tsunade not to help Orochimaru. In response, [[Tsunade]] drugged his sake when they went to a bar, making it difficult for him to move or use chakra. After he discovered that this was so he wouldn't interfere in her attempt to kill Orochimaru, Jiraiya came to help her. In his drugged state, he struggled to fight Orochimaru, but was able to recover to the point that he could summon [[Gamabunta]] to fight Orochimaru's [[Manda]]. The healthy Tsunade proved too much for Orochimaru and Manda, defeating the two and causing them to flee. Tsunade then accepted her post as the Fifth Hokage, and they returned to [[Konoha]].

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=== Sasuke RetrievalArc ===

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=== Sasuke RecoveryMission ===

After Naruto failed to stop [[Sasuke Uchiha]] from defecting to Orochimaru at the end of Part I, Jiraiya encouraged him to give up on Sasuke, remembering his own experiences with Orochimaru. Naruto refused, prompting Jiraiya to take him away for two-and-a-half years of training, to make him strong enough to bring Sasuke back, and to protect himself from [[Akatsuki]].

After Naruto failed to stop [[Sasuke Uchiha]] from defecting to Orochimaru at the end of Part I, Jiraiya encouraged him to give up on Sasuke, remembering his own experiences with Orochimaru. Naruto refused, prompting Jiraiya to take him away for two-and-a-half years of training, to make him strong enough to bring Sasuke back, and to protect himself from [[Akatsuki]].

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=== Pre-ShippūdenFillerArcs ===

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=== LandofRice Fields Investigation Mission ===

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Jiraiya appeared in a few episodes and was a major character in the [[Land of Rice Fields Arc]], in which he travelled with Naruto and Sakura in search of Orochimaru's hideout. The trio were unable to locate Sasuke, but managed to free the [[Fūma Clan (Land of Sound)|Fūma clan]] from Orochimaru's control. He later appeared in ''[[Please, Mr. Postman!]]'', and was present in ''[[Departure]]'' to take Naruto away for his training.

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Jiraiya appeared in a few episodes and was a major character in the [[Land of Rice Fields Investigation Mission]], in which he travelled with Naruto and Sakura in search of Orochimaru's hideout. The trio were unable to locate Sasuke, but managed to free the [[Fūma Clan (Land of Sound)|Fūma clan]] from Orochimaru's control. He later appeared in ''[[Please, Mr. Postman!]]'', and was present in ''[[Departure]]'' to take Naruto away for his training.

Jiraiya and Naruto have left Konoha to begin their three-year journey. As they walk, they talk about Naruto's need to overcome Sasuke's [[Sharingan]]. During a genjutsu practice, Naruto tries to disrupt his inner chakra flow, but instead, creates a wave of chakra around him thus hitting [[Gamariki]] in the physical world. To overcome this part of the training, Jiraiya takes Naruto to the [[Genjutsu Tree Village]]. After realising that the village was taken over by a man named [[Kandachi]], Naruto and Jiraiya decide to liberate the village. As the final battle with Kandachi continued, Jiraiya and Naruto got trapped in the [[Conch King]]'s [[Water Release Genjutsu: Mystic Fog Prison]] but later managed to escape thanks to [[Tanishi]]'s [[Chilli Pepper Bomb]]. At the end of the battle, Naruto defeats Kandachi with his [[Big Ball Rasengan]].

== Part II ==

== Part II ==

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=== Kazekage Rescue Arc ===

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=== Kazekage Rescue Mission ===

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Jiraiya and Naruto return after two years and half of training and goes to Tsunade about how much progress Naruto has made. He later meets up with Kakashi with information about Akatsuki and gives him a seal to Naruto's transformation.

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Jiraiya and Naruto return after two and half years of training and goes to Tsunade about how much progress Naruto has made. He later meets up with Kakashi with information about Akatsuki and gives him a seal to Naruto's transformation. Before Naruto's departure to retrieve [[Gaara]], Jiraiya warns Naruto to refrain from using his [[Jinchūriki Forms|inner power]].

After taking Naruto back to Konoha, Jiraiya wentofftosearchfor information on Akatsuki.Jiraiya wouldsoon return to inform [[Kakashi Hatake|Kakashi]] and [[Yamato]] about Naruto's [[Version 2|four-tailed form]], a form so powerful that it nearly killed Jiraiya before he managed to stop it. It was later revealed that Jiraiya himself released it (not expecting Naruto's loss of control) with a special key passed down from the [[Fourth Hokage]], capable of unlocking Naruto's seal.

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After taking Naruto back to Konoha, Jiraiya went off to search for information on Akatsuki. Jiraiya would soon return to inform [[Kakashi Hatake|Kakashi]] and [[Yamato]] about Naruto's [[Naruto Uzumaki's Jinchūriki Forms#Four-Tailed Form|four-tailed form]], a form so powerful that it nearly killed Jiraiya before he managed to stop it. It was later revealed that Jiraiya himself released it (not expecting Naruto's loss of control) with a special key passed down from the [[Fourth Hokage]], capable of unlocking Naruto's seal.

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=== Three-Tails Arc ===

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=== Three-Tails'Appearance ===

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{{Main|Three-Tails Arc}}

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{{Main|Three-Tails'Appearance}}

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In the anime, Jiraiya returned to Konoha to congratulate Naruto on defeating Akatsuki's [[Kakuzu]] and [[Deidara]]. In order to keep Naruto from participating in Team 7's new [[Sasuke]]-related mission, Jiraiya offered to train him again, and took Naruto to [[Yugakure]]. Jiraiya and Naruto also had a discussion over the meaning of 'home': "''Wherever someone is thinking of you, that is the place you can return to.''" In light of Naruto's need to learn some high-ranked, long-distance techniques, Jiraiya introduced Naruto to the concept of synchronised, [[collaborationjutsu]] and began by demonstrating a synchronised technique, the [[Water Release: Water Gun]] technique, in collaboration with [[Gamariki]].

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In the anime, Jiraiya returned to Konoha to congratulate Naruto on defeating Akatsuki's [[Kakuzu]] and [[Deidara]]. In order to keep Naruto from participating in Team 7's new [[Sasuke]]-related mission, Jiraiya offered to train him again, and took Naruto to [[Yugakure]]. Jiraiya and Naruto also had a discussion over the meaning of 'home': "''Wherever someone is thinking of you, that is the place you can return to.''" In light of Naruto's need to learn some high-ranked, long-distance techniques, Jiraiya introduced Naruto to the concept of synchronised, [[cooperationninjutsu]] and began by demonstrating a synchronised technique, the [[Water Release: Water Gun]] technique, in collaboration with [[Gamariki]].

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When Naruto and Gamariki proved unable to synchronise, due to their conflicting personalities, Jiraiya confronted Naruto with the fact that, unless he can work with a summoned toad, a collaborationtechniques would stay out of his reach. Naruto compensated by summoning toads that he did get along with, and, after giving up on trying to work with Gamariki, finally began on working on a synchronised technique with [[Gamatatsu]], while [[Gamakichi]] guided the process.

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When Naruto and Gamariki proved unable to synchronise, due to their conflicting personalities, Jiraiya confronted Naruto with the fact that, unless he can work with a summoned toad, a cooperationninjutsu would stay out of his reach. Naruto compensated by summoning toads that he did get along with, and, after giving up on trying to work with Gamariki, finally began on working on a synchronised technique with [[Gamatatsu]], while [[Gamakichi]] guided the process.

Jiraiya openly applauded Naruto's progress, and expressed how pleased he was at his dedication to his goals and beliefs. After receiving a message about Akatsuki, Jiraiya was forced to leave Naruto to continue training by himself, though not before convincing [[Tsunade]] to let Naruto go on the mission.

Jiraiya openly applauded Naruto's progress, and expressed how pleased he was at his dedication to his goals and beliefs. After receiving a message about Akatsuki, Jiraiya was forced to leave Naruto to continue training by himself, though not before convincing [[Tsunade]] to let Naruto go on the mission.

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=== Itachi Pursuit Arc ===

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=== Itachi Pursuit Mission ===

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[[File:FoxKey.png|thumb|left|Jiraiya and thescrollwith the key to the Nine-Tails'seal.]]

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His meeting with Tsunade and Shizune, is cut short when Naruto and Sakura enter the office. Surprised that his master had returned to the village, Naruto informs him that he finally mastered the [[cooperationninjutsu]] with Gamakichi and Gamatatsu, impressing him. After discussing on how to capture [[Itachi Uchiha]], Jiraiya and Tsunadegotto the front gate to see the [[EightMan Squad]] off.

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His meeting with Tsunade and Shizune, is cut short when Naruto and Sakura enter the office. Surprised that his master had returned to the village, Naruto informs him that he finally mastered the [[collaboration technique]] with Gamakichi and Gamatatsu, impressing him. After discussing on how to capture [[Itachi Uchiha]], Jiraiya and Tsunade got to the front gate to see the [[Eight Man Squad]] off. After Deidara's death, Jiraiya informed Tsunade that he had found the location of [[Pain|the Akatsuki leader]], somewhere in [[Amegakure]]. After a chat with Tsunade, revealing much of Naruto's history, amongst others who his parents were, he left to infiltrate Amegakure and see what he could find out. He captured two Rain villagers while there, and sent one to Konoha to be interrogated. After hearing that the Akatsuki leader, [[Pain]], killed [[Hanzō]] in battle, Jiraiya decided to leave the key to the Nine-Tails' seal to Naruto, before going out to see what else he could learn.

After Deidara's death, Jiraiya informed Tsunade that he had found the location of [[Pain|the Akatsuki leader]], somewhere in [[Amegakure]]. After a chat with Tsunade, revealing much of Naruto's history, amongst others who his parents were, he left to infiltrate Amegakure and see what he could find out. He captured two Rain villagers while there, and sent one to Konoha to be interrogated. After hearing that the Akatsuki leader, [[Pain]], killed [[Hanzō]] in battle, Jiraiya decided to leave the key to the Nine-Tails' seal to Naruto, before going out to see what else he could learn.

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[[File:Jiraiya kills Pain .png|thumb|left|Jiraiya stops three of the Paths.]]

Jiraiya eventually found [[Konan]], and after incapacitating her with his oil, questioned what happened to her, [[Yahiko]], and [[Nagato]]. Suddenly Pain appeared and Jiraiya recognised him as his former student, Nagato, because of his [[Rinnegan]]. Fearing that his student would destroy the world, as was warned against in the prophecy, Jiraiya tried to kill Pain. After summoning [[Gamaken]] to protect him from various summons, he entered [[Sage Mode]], and summoned [[Shima]] and [[Fukasaku]] to help him, but had difficulty with the battle when Pain summoned additional bodies (the [[Preta Path (character)|Preta Path]] and the [[Human Path (character)|Human Path]]). Although they were able to defeat three of Pain's bodies with a [[Demonic Illusion: Toad Confrontation Chant|powerful genjutsu]], Jiraiya was handicapped when Pain's [[Asura Path (character)|Asura Path]] ambushed Jiraiya and somehow severed his left arm. The Asura Path was joined by the other five paths, with the first three having been reanimated. Doing the most that he could without his arm, Jiraiya managed to kill and capture the [[First Animal Path (character)|Animal Path]], and ordered Shima to leave and take it to Konoha, before heading out one last time to see if he could figure out the secret behind Pain.

Jiraiya eventually found [[Konan]], and after incapacitating her with his oil, questioned what happened to her, [[Yahiko]], and [[Nagato]]. Suddenly Pain appeared and Jiraiya recognised him as his former student, Nagato, because of his [[Rinnegan]]. Fearing that his student would destroy the world, as was warned against in the prophecy, Jiraiya tried to kill Pain. After summoning [[Gamaken]] to protect him from various summons, he entered [[Sage Mode]], and summoned [[Shima]] and [[Fukasaku]] to help him, but had difficulty with the battle when Pain summoned additional bodies (the [[Preta Path (character)|Preta Path]] and the [[Human Path (character)|Human Path]]). Although they were able to defeat three of Pain's bodies with a [[Demonic Illusion: Toad Confrontation Chant|powerful genjutsu]], Jiraiya was handicapped when Pain's [[Asura Path (character)|Asura Path]] ambushed Jiraiya and somehow severed his left arm. The Asura Path was joined by the other five paths, with the first three having been reanimated. Doing the most that he could without his arm, Jiraiya managed to kill and capture the [[First Animal Path (character)|Animal Path]], and ordered Shima to leave and take it to Konoha, before heading out one last time to see if he could figure out the secret behind Pain.

Jiraiya was able to discover that all of Pain's bodies belonged to ninja he once knew, amongst them being his old student, [[Yahiko]], functioning as Pain's Deva Path. With this information, Jiraiya was able to discover the truth, but his throat was crushed by the Asura Path and he was pinned down to the ground by the other paths, leaving him unable to tell Fukasaku what he had learned.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 381, pages 16-17</ref> As his life waned, he mused over his death, calling it unworthy and flashed back to his life and his failures, failing to win Tsunade's heart, failing to stop Orochimaru from leaving [[Konoha]], and failing to protect both his master [[Hiruzen]] and his student [[Minato Namikaze]]. But when he remembered how Minato called his book a success and decided to name his son after the book's protagonist, Jiraiya realised that it was he who named him Naruto.

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Jiraiya was able to discover that all of Pain's bodies belonged to ninja he once knew, amongst them being his old student, [[Yahiko]], functioning as Pain's Deva Path. With this information, Jiraiya was able to discover the truth, but his throat was crushed by the Asura Path and he was pinned down to the ground by the other paths, leaving him unable to tell Fukasaku what he had learned.<ref>Chapter 381, pages 16-17</ref> As his life waned, he mused over his death, calling it unworthy compared to the [[Hokage]] and flashed back to his life and his failures, failing to win Tsunade's heart, failing to stop Orochimaru from leaving [[Konoha]], and failing to protect both his master [[Hiruzen]] and his student [[Minato Namikaze]]. But when he remembered how Minato called his book a success and decided to name his son after the book's protagonist, Jiraiya realised that it was he who named him Naruto.

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[[File:Jiraiya dying with a smile.JPG|thumb|right|Jiraiya dying with a smile.]]

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[[File:Jiraiya'sdeath.png|thumb|left|Jiraiya dying with a smile.]]

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Seeing that the student's way should also be the teacher's way, Jiraiya realised that Naruto, not Nagato, was the child foretold of in the prophecy. Knowing that Naruto would someday save the world, he forced himself back to life and [[Finger Carving Seal|inscribed]] a coded message into Fukasaku's back and sent him to Naruto. When the Asura Path saw the coded message on Fukasaku, he attacked him with a [[Flaming Arrow of Amazing Ability|rocket hand]], destroying the rock Jiraiya was lying on, making him fall into the water. As Jiraiya died, he compared himself to the "''Frog at the bottom of the well… Drifts off into the Great Ocean''", calling it a more honourable death and realised that he needed a title for his next book. Finding the title "''Tale of Naruto Uzumaki''" perfect, Jiraiya died with a smile while sinking into the watery depths of the battlefield.<ref name="chpt383">''Naruto'' chapter 383, pages 6-8</ref>

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Seeing that the student's way should also be the teacher's way, Jiraiya realised that Naruto, not Nagato, was the child foretold of in the prophecy. Knowing that Naruto would someday save the world, he forced himself back to life and [[Finger Carving Seal|inscribed]] a coded message into Fukasaku's back and sent him to Naruto. When the Asura Path saw the coded message on Fukasaku, he attacked him with a [[Flaming Arrow of Amazing Ability|rocket hand]], destroying the rock Jiraiya was lying on, making him fall into the water. As Jiraiya died, he compared himself to the "''Frog at the bottom of the well… Drifts off into the Great Ocean''", calling it a more honourable death and realised that he needed a title for his next book. Finding the title "''Tale of Naruto Uzumaki''" perfect, Jiraiya died with a smile while sinking into the watery depths of the battlefield.<ref name="chpt383">Chapter 383, pages 6-8</ref>

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=== KonohaHistory Arc ===

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== Legacy ==

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{{Main|KonohaHistoryArc}}

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[[File:Jiraiya's memorial.jpg|thumb|The memorialtoJiraiya.]]

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JiraiyaandNarutohaveleftKonohatobegintheir three-year journey. As they walk, theytalk about Naruto's need to overcome Sasuke's [[Sharingan]].During a genjutsupractice,Narutotriestodisrupthisinnerchakraflow,butinstead,createsawaveof chakra around him thus hitting [[Gamariki]] in the physicalworld.Toovercomethispartofthetraining,JiraiyatakesNarutoto the [[GenjutsuTreeVillage]].Afterrealisingthatthe village was taken over by a man named [[Kandachi]], Naruto and Jiraiya decide to liberate the village. As the final battle with Kandachi continued, Jiraiya and Naruto got trapped in the[[Conch King]]'s [[WaterReleaseGenjutsu:MysticFogPrison]]butlatermanagedto escape thanks to [[Tanishi]]'s [[ChilliPepperBomb]].Attheendof thebattle, Naruto defeatsKandachiwithhis[[BigBallRasengan]].

Soontimeafter,Narutocreateda [[Jiraiya's Memorial|memorial to Jiraiya]] in the woods near Konoha, adorned with symbols of high importance: A rock with the kanji for {{translation|'teacher'|師|shi}}, Jiraiya's first novel ''[[The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi]]'', and Konan's bouquet of "never-dying flowers of hope". Later on, Kabuto revealed that he attempted to retrieve Jiraiya's body to bring him back through [[Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation]], but it was far too deep in the ocean for him to reach without being crushed by the water pressure. However, he noted that [[Obito Uchiha|Tobi]] should still have enough DNA on the Six Paths of Pain's weapons but was refused.<ref>Chapter 520, page 13</ref>

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{{Main|Adventures at Sea Arc}}

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==Legacy==

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[[File:Jiraiyaandhis disciples.png|thumb|left|Obito comments on how Jiraiya was the one who defeated him, as Nagato and Naruto's master.]]

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[[File:Jiraiya'smemorial.jpg|thumb|left|Thememorial to Jiraiya.]]

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Later during the [[Fourth Shinobi World War]], [[Tsunade]] noted that Jiraiya would not have died if [[Orochimaru]] had changed. Orochimaru countered that even if he had lived Jiraiya would have changed instead of dying without changing.<ref>Chapter 635, page 9</ref> Betrayed by Nagato and defeated by Naruto, Obito comes to the conclusion that with the two as the disciples of Jiraiya, the Sannin was the one who defeated him in a sense.<ref>Chapter 656, page 10</ref>

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Although the next arc played out after his death, Jiraiya still had a great impact on the events that happened during it. With the message that he left on [[Fukasaku]]'s back "''the real one isn't among them''" allowed Konoha to uncover the mystery of [[Pain]] and [[Naruto Uzumaki]] to defeat him. His belief that understanding and peace prevails over hatred culminated in [[Naruto Uzumaki]], who created a [[Jiraiya's Memorial|memorial to Jiraiya]] in the woods near Konoha, adorned with symbols of high importance: A rock with the kanji for {{translation|'teacher'|師|shi}}, Jiraiya's first novel ''[[The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi]]'', and the "never-dying flowers of hope", given to Naruto by [[Konan]] as a sign of her faith in him. Later on, Kabuto tried to find Jiraiya's body to gather up a DNA sample, with which to reincarnate him through [[Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation]], but it lies too deep in the ocean for him to reach without being crushed by the pressure.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 520, page 13</ref>

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{{-L}}

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== Movies ==

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== In other media ==

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=== Naruto the Movie: Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow ===

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=== Movies ===

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Jiraiyahadabriefappearance in the flash back when Naruto was thinkingabouthisfriends.

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====NarutotheMovie:Ninja Clash in the LandofSnow====

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Jiraiya had a brief appearance in the flashback when Naruto was thinking about his friends.

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=== Naruto Shippūden 2: Bonds ===

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==== Naruto Shippūden the Movie: Bonds ====

Most of Jiraiya's appearances were more spiritual than actually appearing. When Naruto was sent on a mission without Kakashi or Yamato, Jiraiya gave Naruto, through Sakura, a small package. After Naruto transformed into his four-tailed form, the package was revealed to be a small seal charm, to force Naruto back to normal. Jiraiya then appeared again as a hallucination, pushing Naruto to fight on. In the end, Jiraiya finally made a physical appearance by saving his apprentice and [[Amaru]] from certain death by summoning Gamabunta to cushion their fall.

Most of Jiraiya's appearances were more spiritual than actually appearing. When Naruto was sent on a mission without Kakashi or Yamato, Jiraiya gave Naruto, through Sakura, a small package. After Naruto transformed into his four-tailed form, the package was revealed to be a small seal charm, to force Naruto back to normal. Jiraiya then appeared again as a hallucination, pushing Naruto to fight on. In the end, Jiraiya finally made a physical appearance by saving his apprentice and [[Amaru]] from certain death by summoning Gamabunta to cushion their fall.

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=== Naruto Shippūden 3: Inheritors of the Will of Fire ===

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==== Naruto Shippūden the Movie: The Will of Fire ====

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Jiraiya meets with a group of Sunagakure shinobi and talked with Gaara. Later, he took a message from Gaara to a ravine, where Suna and Konoha forces were ready to battle. He stayed there and talked to Tsunade after Suna withdrew from the war.

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Jiraiya met with a group of Sunagakure shinobi and talked with Gaara. Later, he took a [[Sand Characters|message]] from Gaara to a ravine, where Suna and Konoha forces were ready to battle. He stayed there and talked to Tsunade after Suna withdrew from the war.

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=== Naruto Shippūden 4: The Lost Tower ===

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==== Naruto Shippūden the Movie: The Lost Tower ====

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Jiraiya called Minato aside to show him he learned to perform the Rasengan. Unfazed, Minato simply congratulated him and leaves, much to Jiraiya's confusion.

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Jiraiya called Minato aside to show him he learned to perform the Rasengan. Unfazed, Minato simply congratulated him and left, much to Jiraiya's confusion.

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== VideoGames ==

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==== RoadtoNinja: Naruto the Movie ====

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In the [[Genjutsu World]], Jiraiya died trying to procure the [[Red Moon Scroll]] which the [[Great Toad Sage]] foretold will help defeat the [[Menma Uzumaki|Masked Man]].

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=== Video Games ===

{{playable in}}

{{playable in}}

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=== Live action ===

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==== Live Spectacle Naruto ====

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{{Main|Live Spectacle Naruto}}

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Yoshiaki Umegaki plays as Jiraiya in this stage play adaption.

== Creation and Conception ==

== Creation and Conception ==

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Jiraiya is named after the character of the same name from a Japanese folklore {{translation|"The Tale of the Gallant Jiraiya"|児雷也豪傑物語|Jiraiya Goketsu Monogatari}}. The Jiraiya in this story is vastly different than his manga counterpart in terms of personality and relationships, however both individuals excelled in summoning a giant toad (the toad itself was sometimes called "Jiraiya") and toad magic. In that story, Jiraiya and Tsunade were a married couple. There, his name is written as "児雷也" meaning "Young Thunder", which in turn comes from the name {{translation|Garaiya|我来也|lit meaning=I came}} from the Chinese story {{translation|Kaishi|諧史}}. As the character was about to die, he made a reference to the story.

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Jiraiya is named after the character of the same name from a Japanese folklore {{translation|"The Tale of the Gallant Jiraiya"|児雷也豪傑物語|Jiraiya Gōketsu Monogatari}}. The Jiraiya in this story is vastly different than his manga counterpart in terms of personality and relationships, however both individuals excelled in summoning a giant toad (the toad itself was sometimes called "Jiraiya") and toad magic. In that story, Jiraiya and Tsunade were a married couple. There, his name is written as "児雷也" meaning "Young Thunder", which in turn comes from the name {{translation|Garaiya|我来也|lit meaning=I came}} from the Chinese story {{translation|Kaishi|諧史}}. As the character was about to die, he made a reference to the story.

Masashi Kishimoto originally planned to draw Jiraiya with a different design, and with a different style of hair. He also intended for Jiraiya to summon toads that were of a similar size to humans. However, this idea was deemed a failure. During an interview, he commented that, of the student-teacher relationships in Naruto, Jiraiya and Naruto's is the one he likes the most.

Masashi Kishimoto originally planned to draw Jiraiya with a different design, and with a different style of hair. He also intended for Jiraiya to summon toads that were of a similar size to humans. However, this idea was deemed a failure. During an interview, he commented that, of the student-teacher relationships in Naruto, Jiraiya and Naruto's is the one he likes the most.

* Jiraiya shares the same blood type with his former team-mates, Tsunade and Orochimaru, as well as his former apprentices, Naruto Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze.

* Jiraiya shares the same blood type with his former team-mates, Tsunade and Orochimaru, as well as his former apprentices, Naruto Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze.

* In a special episode, [[The Top 5 Ninja Battles!]], Jiraiya was intended to have an interview, but Orochimaru popped up next to him instead.

* In a special episode, [[The Top 5 Ninja Battles!]], Jiraiya was intended to have an interview, but Orochimaru popped up next to him instead.

* Despite no canonic source ranking him, in the anime, he was revealed to be a jōnin.<ref>''Naruto: Shippūden'' episode 235</ref>

* Despite no canonic source ranking him, in the anime, he was revealed to be a jōnin.<ref>''Naruto: Shippūden'' episode 235</ref>

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* Studio Pierrot's Settei sheets of Jiraiya show that he was 153&nbsp;cm when he was part of Hiruzen's genin team, they also show that his sandals add 7&nbsp;cm on to his height.

* According to the databook(s):

* According to the databook(s):

** Jiraiya's hobby was sneaking a peek into a Women's Bathing House.

** Jiraiya's hobby was sneaking a peek into a Women's Bathing House.

Line 170:

Line 177:

** Jiraiya completed 1,839 official missions in total: 58 D-rank, 345 C-rank, 684 B-rank, 614 A-rank, 138 S-rank. With this rating of mission completion by Jiraiya, he has the most completed missions of all characters in the entire ''Naruto'' series.

** Jiraiya completed 1,839 official missions in total: 58 D-rank, 345 C-rank, 684 B-rank, 614 A-rank, 138 S-rank. With this rating of mission completion by Jiraiya, he has the most completed missions of all characters in the entire ''Naruto'' series.

** Jiraiya is tied with [[Itachi Uchiha]] as having the highest stats total in the databook.

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* Jiraiya is tied with [[Itachi Uchiha]] as having the highest stats total in the databook.

* Jiraiya's last words were based off of a Japanese proverb 'I no naka no kawazu taikai o shirazu' which translates literally to 'A frog in a well does not know the great ocean'.

* Jiraiya's last words were based off of a Japanese proverb 'I no naka no kawazu taikai o shirazu' which translates literally to 'A frog in a well does not know the great ocean'.

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* Although Jiraiya is always seen using his trademark horned forehead protector with the kanji for {{translation|'Oil'|油|abura}}, he is briefly seen using the standard Konoha's [[forehead protector]] during a flashback with Kakashi regarding's [[Tsunade]] bust size. <ref name="chpt406">Chapter 406, pages 8-9</ref>

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** It's unknown if this was a continuity error made by Kishimoto, since old Jiraiya always uses his horned forehead protector, and only used Konoha's when he was young.

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* All of Jiraiya's main students in ''Naruto'' ([[Minato Namikaze]], [[Yahiko]], [[Nagato]], [[Konan]], and [[Naruto Uzumaki]]) became leaders of their village.

* (To [[Nagato]]) "''When people get hurt, they learn to hate… when people hurt others, they become hated and racked with guilt. But knowing that pain allows people to be kind. Pain allows people to grow… and how you grow is up to you.''"<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 446, page 7</ref>

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* (To [[Nagato]]) "''When people get hurt, they learn to hate… when people hurt others, they become hated and racked with guilt. But knowing that pain allows people to be kind. Pain allows people to grow… and how you grow is up to you.''"<ref>Chapter 446, page 7</ref>

* (To [[Orochimaru]]) "''You're wrong, that's not what makes a shinobi. You never did get it, a real ninja is one who endures no matter what gets thrown at him… Let me explain something to you, there is only one thing that matters if you are a shinobi, and it isn't the number of techniques you possess. All you do need, is the guts to never give up.''"<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 166, pages 17-18</ref>

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* (To [[Orochimaru]]) "''You're wrong, that's not what makes a shinobi. You never did get it, a real ninja is one who endures no matter what gets thrown at him… Let me explain something to you, there is only one thing that matters if you are a shinobi, and it isn't the number of techniques you possess. All you do need, is the guts to never give up.''"<ref>Chapter 166, pages 17-18</ref>

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* (To Naruto) "''Even I can tell that hatred is spreading. I wanted to do something about it … but I don't know what … but I believe… that someday the day will come when people truly understand one another!! If I can't find the answer, it will be up to you to do it!!''"<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 436, pages 12-13</ref>

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* (To Naruto) "''Even I can tell that hatred is spreading. I wanted to do something about it … but I don't know what … but I believe… that someday the day will come when people truly understand one another!! If I can't find the answer, it will be up to you to do it!!''"<ref>Chapter 436, pages 12-13</ref>

* (To Naruto) "''They say wherever someone is still thinking of you, that place is your home.''"<ref>''Naruto: Shippūden'' episode 91</ref>

* (To Naruto) "''They say wherever someone is still thinking of you, that place is your home.''"<ref>''Naruto: Shippūden'' episode 91</ref>

* (To Naruto) "''I think we all have to acknowledge you. Gamatatsu, Gamakichi, Sakura, Tsunade… and I… we all admit you've worked really hard. But I wonder what's pushing you forward.''"<ref>''Naruto: Shippūden'' episode 93</ref>

* (To Naruto) "''I think we all have to acknowledge you. Gamatatsu, Gamakichi, Sakura, Tsunade… and I… we all admit you've worked really hard. But I wonder what's pushing you forward.''"<ref>''Naruto: Shippūden'' episode 93</ref>

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* (To Tsunade) "''Now my job is to help the next generation, and set a good example for them. And for that I'll gladly lay down my life, and I’ll be smiling the whole time. It's what makes us old guys cool, you see.''"<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 366, page 13</ref>

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* (To Tsunade) "''Now my job is to help the next generation, and set a good example for them. And for that I'll gladly lay down my life, and I'll be smiling the whole time. It's what makes us old guys cool, you see.''"<ref>Chapter 366, page 13</ref>

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* (To Naruto) "''Never go back on your word… and never give up. That's your ninja way… and as your mentor… I have no business whining! Because… the student's ninja way should be the master's too! Isn't that so, Naruto?!''"<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 382, pages 15-16</ref>

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* (To Naruto) "''Never go back on your word… and never give up. That's your ninja way… and as your mentor… I have no business whining! Because… the student's ninja way should be the master's too! Isn't that so, Naruto?!''"<ref>Chapter 382, pages 15-16</ref>

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* (Last words) "''The true measure of a shinobi is not how he lives but how he dies. It's not what they do in life, but what they did before dying that proves their worth. Thinking back of it, my story is one full of failures. Tsunade rejected me every time. I couldn't save my friend, I failed to protect my student… and my teacher. Compared with the Hokage who came before me, my accomplishments have all been petty and insignificant. I wanted to die like them…''" <ref> ''Naruto'' chapter 382, pages 5-6</ref>

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* (Last words) "''The true measure of a shinobi is not how he lives but how he dies. It's not what they do in life, but what they did before dying that proves their worth. Thinking back of it, my story is one full of failures. Tsunade rejected me every time. I couldn't save my friend, I failed to protect my student… and my teacher. Compared with the Hokage who came before me, my accomplishments have all been petty and insignificant. I wanted to die like them…''" <ref>Chapter 382, pages 5-6</ref>

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* (Last words) "''There, that ending… was a little better. The frog at the bottom of the well drifts off into the great ocean. Heh heh… yep… pretty damn honourable… pretty damn honourable… I guess it's time to put down my pen. Right… I need a title for the next book… let's see… Ah, got it… "The Tale of Naruto Uzumaki"… perfect.''"<ref name="chpt383"/>

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* (Last words) "''There, that ending… was a little better. The frog at the bottom of the well drifts off into the great ocean. Heh heh… yep… pretty damn honourable… pretty damn honourable… I guess it's time to put down my pen. Right… I need a title for the next book… let's see… Ah, got it… "The Tale of Naruto Uzumaki"… perfect.''"<ref name="chpt383"/>

Jiraiya (自来也, Jiraiya) was one of Konohagakure's legendary Sannin. He was known as the Toad Sage (蝦蟇仙人, Gama Sennin) because of his special affinity for toads. Famed as a hermit and pervert of stupendous skill, Jiraiya travelled the world in search of knowledge that would help his friends, the various novels he wrote, and, posthumously, the world in its entirety – knowledge that would be passed on to his godson and final student, Naruto Uzumaki.

Contents

As a child, Jiraiya and his then-team-mates Orochimaru and Tsunade, were students of the Third Hokage. Jiraiya's relationship with his team practically mirrored that of the future Team 7, with Jiraiya being quite similar to Naruto, being the clumsy and reckless member of the team. At various times, he would try to impress Tsunade, only to embarrass himself.[8] Jiraiya at some point discovered the residence of the toads. This happened, in the anime, when still the Third's student; after seeing the Third perform the Summoning Technique, Jiraiya tried to use it himself. Since he did not have a contract, Jiraiya was reversed summoned to Mount Myōboku.[9] There, he learned to have a natural affinity for their variety of ninjutsu techniques. He was also trained in senjutsu. After leaving the Third's tutelage, he travelled the world, where he was later called upon by the Great Toad Sage who made a prophecy concerning Jiraiya: that he would someday choose whether one of his students saved or destroyed the world.

Jiraiya, Tsunade and Orochimaru face Hanzō.

During the Second Shinobi World War, Jiraiya and his former team-mates fought Hanzō, the leader of Amegakure. Hanzō was so impressed that they could survive in a fight with him, that he bestowed upon them the title of Konoha's "Legendary Three Ninja" (伝説の三忍, Densetsu no Sannin), and that they accept the title in exchange for letting them live. Once the battle was over, Jiraiya and his team-mates encountered three young orphans from Amegakure. While Orochimaru suggested they kill them to spare them the cruelty of the world, Jiraiya decided to look after them for a while and teach them ninjutsu. During the time he spent with them, Jiraiya grew close to the three children, and even wrote a book that was inspired by one of them, Nagato. Eventually, he left them so that they could pursue their own goals. Although news of their exploits reached him from time to time, he thought they had died during an undisclosed incident.

Team Jiraiya.

Jiraiya later became the teacher of Minato Namikaze and two other unknown genin. Jiraiya took particular interest in Minato, taking him as an apprentice, and among other things teaching him the Summoning Technique and senjutsu. At some point, he also told Minato about the prophecy the Great Toad Sage had given him, believing that Minato could be the Child of the Prophecy.

Later, Jiraiya's first book, The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi, failed to be a best-seller. Minato, now the Fourth Hokage, thought the book was excellent, and praised Jiraiya, saying that the protagonist resembled him greatly. It was then that Minato revealed that he and Kushina Uzumaki, who was pregnant at the time, wanted to raise their child to be a great shinobi, like the one in the book, and for that reason they decided to name him "Naruto", after the main character. Jiraiya jokingly pointed out that it would make him Naruto's godfather, and asked if they were sure that they would want that. Minato replied that Jiraiya was a good example for them all and that he could not think of a finer shinobi than him.[10]

In the anime, sometime after becoming a jōnin, Jiraiya encountered the leader of the Nadeshiko Village after he trespassed into her village to do "research" for his next novel. After he escaped, she pursued him and challenged him to a duel for his hand in marriage. This match was however postponed, as neither party was making headway against the other. Jiraiya promised that their students instead should one day seek each other out and fight if the two never met again.[11]

Years later, when Orochimaru betrayed Konoha and left the village, Jiraiya pursued him, trying to convince his friend to come back (similar to Naruto's efforts to bring Sasuke home). Orochimaru refused, and attacked Jiraiya. While he tried to find a reason for Orochimaru's defection, Jiraiya eventually realised that his friend wasn't coming back. Feeling that he was responsible for Orochimaru's escape, Jiraiya left Konoha so he could follow Orochimaru's movements, as well as those of "Akatsuki", an organisation which Orochimaru had eventually joined. In doing so, Jiraiya was unable to fulfil the Third's wishes of him taking on the role of Hokage, feeling that tracking down Orochimaru was more important.

Although he left Konoha for many years, Jiraiya was still loyal to his village. When Konoha found itself in need of a new Hokage after the Third Hokage's death, Jiraiya volunteered to look for Tsunade so that she could be the Fifth Hokage, after turning down the position himself. His reason for refusing the position was, among other things, that he felt unworthy to take the role, since he had failed to save either of the previous Hokage from dying, or stop Orochimaru from turning traitor, as well as him having to conduct more "research". After he found Tsunade, and began to suspect that she might be helping Orochimaru, he made it clear that he would kill her if she betrayed the village, a proof of his loyalty to Konoha. However, once it became clear that Tsunade was still loyal to Konoha, and later accepted the title of Hokage, Jiraiya served as her most trusted adviser, loyal confidant, and a spy into the dealings of Akatsuki and Konoha's enemies.

Jiraiya's perverted nature.

Jiraiya was a self-proclaimed super-pervert with no equal (although he meant it as a joke),[12] and a frequent voyeur, going so far as to create the Transparent Escape Technique, to allow him to spy on naked women without being caught (doing "research" as he called it, even as a child). He never actually hid his perversion, and even seemed proud of it, as seen when he told the Third Hokage about it when he was still a child. Despite this, Jiraiya disliked being referred to as the Perverted Hermit (エロ仙人, Ero-sennin, English TV: Pervy Sage) by Naruto in front of others.

Jiraiya's perversion had been used against him on occasions, as seen when Naruto got Jiraiya to start training him after a simple display of the Sexy Technique (though Naruto hit a roadblock when Jiraiya wanted him to use the technique around him when training). When two Akatsuki members tried to distract Jiraiya, they used a hypnotised woman to catch his eye and keep him busy. While their effort initially succeeded, Jiraiya eventually saw through their plot, due solely to the fact that women did not typically express interest in him. His peeping habits had also caused him great injury on one occasion; when caught spying on Tsunade in his younger years, she proceeded to break both of his arms, six of his ribs, and ruptured a number of organs as punishment. As a result of such injuries, Jiraiya now retained a rather healthy fear towards his former team-mate, and usually attempted to suppress his perverted ways when in Tsunade's presence. Despite these perverted tendencies, Jiraiya was in love with Tsunade nonetheless and even as he died, he lamented the fact that he was never able to win her heart. However, despite his one-sided affections for his team-mate, Jiraiya didn't let his feelings cloud his judgment and resolutely stated that he wouldn't hesitate to kill Tsunade should she betray Konoha and help Orochimaru.

Some time after leaving Konoha, Jiraiya became the author of a series of adult novels called Icha Icha. The novels were based on his personal experiences in love, that he retold in a comical way. In a filler episode of the anime, Naruto ghost-wrote one of Jiraiya's Icha Icha novels. The book was found to be very popular. This indicates that either Naruto is capable of writing on the same level as Jiraiya, or that Jiraiya's writing abilities were no better than those of a child. Tsunade seemed to suspect that the latter was true, as she noted that a report he wrote as a child, accompanied by crude crayon illustrations, was poorly written. The popularity of the Icha Icha series seemed to have paid off well, as Jiraiya's cheque book revealed that he was fairly wealthy. Despite his wealth, Jiraiya was not above taking Naruto's money and spending it on sake and women. Jiraiya frequently disappeared when Naruto attempted to make him pay.

Jiraiya posing.

Jiraiya had also been known to show off, even during a fight. This showing off typically included traditional kabuki poses accompanied by dramatic self-introductions, keeping with his hermit theme, even when he was a child.[13] He became annoyed if he was interrupted for whatever reason while trying to strike a pose, which happened frequently. His summon Gama however was the only toad he ever summoned that posed along with him. Although he was generally light-hearted and gregarious, Jiraiya could be very serious in a demanding situation, such as fighting Orochimaru, and later, Pain. He was also quite perceptive, as demonstrated when he watched Naruto try to walk over the surface of shallow water; Jiraiya quickly discerned that there was something within Naruto that was disrupting the chakra's circulation through his body.

Despite Jiraiya's eccentric behaviour and prowess as a shinobi, he was a strong believer in peace; his hope being to one day end the hatred that plagued the ninja world. Jiraiya also held a great deal of faith in the next generation, and saw them as the solution to this hate.

Jiraiya was a tall man with waist-length, spiky white hair usually tied back into a pony tail, with two shoulder-length bangs that framed both sides of his face. He also had red lines that ran down from his eyes and wore a horned forehead protector with the kanji for 'Oil' (油, abura), which denotes his affiliation with Mount Myōboku. He also had a noticeable wart on the left side of his nose. Jiraiya wore a green short shirt kimono and matching pants; under which he wore mesh armour that showed out of the sleeves and legs of his outfit. His outfit was completed with hand guards, a simple black belt, traditional Japanese geta (wooden sandals), a red haori with two simple yellow circles on each side, and a scroll on his back. He also had a tattoo in his left palm which resembles one that Gama has in his as well.[14]

Jiraiya was also seen sporting different attires. As a child, he wore pale grey robes with a design of red flames on the edges, with a green ribbon showing a curled gold design tied in a loose bow around his waist. In childhood, the length of the red lines that ran down his eyes extended to just over half his face, but became longer in time. Underneath it, he wore the standard black mesh shirt with red lining, and wore puffy black pants that are tighter around the ankles as well as black sandals to go with the outfit. During the Second Great Shinobi War against Hanzō, he wore the wartime variant of Konoha's flak jacket and its standard forehead protector. He was also shown wearing what appeared to be a rubber frog suit during a flash back to when he was training the Ame Orphans.

As one of the Legendary Sannin, Jiraiya was one of the most powerful shinobi in history, easily considered Kage-level. Likewise, he was offered on two separate occasions to be Hokage. During the Konoha Crush, Jiraiya was noted by Ebisu to be the only shinobi strong enough to defeat Orochimaru, a prodigy in his own right. Indeed, he could match Orochimaru in battle while they were both equally handicapped during their reunion. Jiraiya skills were such that he could defeat Naruto in his four-tailed form, something that Orochimaru was unable to do. Even S-rank shinobi such as Kisame Hoshigaki openly admitted that Jiraiya was on another level than him and Itachi Uchiha admitted that the best he could do against Jiraiya was a stalemate, even with reinforcements. Even his former students such as Konan couldn't defeat him despite becoming a powerful S-rank kunoichi herself, and Nagato openly admitted that Jiraiya would have defeated him if he knew the secret of his technique. Even Minato Namikaze, who became the Fourth Hokage, openly acknowledged his former master's prowess and wished to fight him.

While not being his preferred combat method, Jiraiya was still very proficient with taijutsu, capable of stopping some of the individual dogs that split from the Giant Multi-Headed Dog using just his legs. His natural strength, while nowhere close to his former team-mate Tsunade, was very impressive, being able to lift a large boulder several times his own size as a child in the anime.[15] Also in the anime, he was shown intervening in a fight between a young Gamabunta (who was still bigger than himself) and an unknown snake of equal size where Jiraiya grabbed and tossed the snake a great distance away with ease. Jiraiya has showcased a high level of durability over the course of his life; taking a direct kick to the face from Might Guy,[16] as well as surviving a direct blow from Nagato's Giant Ox, which ploughed him through several steel pipes, without getting injured.[17] He even learned the taijutsu style of Frog Kata from the toads.

Jiraiya was well-versed in a variety of ninjutsu types. He could grow and sharpen his hair for offensive and defensive purposes. Jiraiya was taught how to use the Rasengan by Minato, and had since developed a larger variant. He is highly skilled in stealth, espionage, and reconnaissance, even having his own personally made technique known as the Transparent Escape Technique to aid him in such missions (although he mainly uses it to help him spy on women). Kakashi noted that Jiraiya was a specialist when it comes to infiltration and espionage tactics.

Apart from his fighting abilities, Jiraiya was very proficient with barrier based techniques. Examples would include Barrier: Canopy Method Formation, which allowed him to detect all movements within a wide radius and block attacks, and Barrier: Toad Gourd Prison, which allowed him to trap an enemy inside the belly of a small toad-shaped gourd, the inside of which contains a landscape with a lake of stomach acid.

Jiraiya was known as the "Toad Sage", due to his natural affinity for toads, and his utilisation of a number of toad-related techniques. Many typically dealt with summoning toads. He had risen to a level of ability that allowed him to summon Gamabunta. He could even summon the nearly indestructible œsophagus of a great, fire-breathing toad with Summoning: Toad Mouth Bind. Once the technique had been used to cover the area, Jiraiya could control it as he pleased, and used it to trap most ninja. Due to his training with toads, he even gained the ability to spit oil from his mouth.

Jiraiya had been shown to be very skilled and otherwise knowledgeable with Sealing Techniques, and had used a number of them throughout the series. When first meeting Naruto, he quickly deduced that the seal on Naruto's stomach, which kept the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox sealed within him, also allowed its chakra to mix with his own. Jiraiya easily recognised the Five Elements Seal that Orochimaru had placed on top of the seal on Naruto's stomach and how it was distorting Naruto's chakra, and he easily removed it with Five Elements Unseal.

He later created a method of suppressing the Nine-Tails' influence over Naruto through the Chakra-Suppressing Seal, which activates by simply coming into contact with Naruto's body. In addition, he could utilise the Fire Sealing Method to contain even Itachi's Amaterasu within a scroll for future study.

Like Naruto, Jiraiya naturally possessed exceptionally large amounts and strong levels of chakra and stamina. Its potency was able to make Naruto back down from chasing after Itachi and Kisame with a single glare and chakra spike. Even with his ability to mould chakra weakened by Tsunade's poison, he could still create a swamp which sank one of Orochimaru's massive snakes (two in the anime) and kept it completely immobilised throughout the battle. Though by Jiraiya's own admission, the technique had failed to some extent.

He has also shown an extremely high level of chakra control as well. He could use the Rasengan in a single hand, or two at once as well as effortlessly displaying each stage of the technique to Naruto. Even after being stabbed five times by the Six Paths of Pain's Chakra Disruption Blades, he was able to use the Finger Carving Seal despite Nagato's disruptive chakra circulating through his body.

Jiraiya's chakra reserves were large enough to learn the Mount Myōboku teachings of senjutsu — an alternate combat style that utilises natural energy in unison with his chakra to greatly increase his overall abilities. The pinnacle of his skill is to enter Sage Mode, a transformation that allowed him to harness natural energy inside of himself to immensely augment his physical parameters. This form enhanced his strength to the point of destroying the Human Path's eyes with just a kick to the face, while also sending him several metres away. Likewise, his speed was enhanced to the point where he could leap down from a high vantage point and form an attack, before his sandals — which had fallen before he jumped — had even reached the ground.[21]

Due to the limited nature of using Sage Mode on his own as one must remain absolutely still to gather the necessary natural energy, while before entering it, Jiraiya will summon the elder toad couple Shima and Fukasaku and have them fuse to his body and absorb the energy for him. Jiraiya didn't like Sage Mode because it gave him a more toad-like appearance, with longer marks along the sides of his face, a goatee, a larger nose with warts, webbed hands and feet and sharp teeth, all of which made him unappealing to girls. This appearance is due to Jiraiya not having complete mastery over the technique.

Jiraiya using Sage Art: Goemon with Fukasaku and Shima.

In addition to maintaining Jiraiya's natural energy while he fought, they added their own abilities to help him in battle. Sage Mode greatly increased Jiraiya's physical power, as shown by his ability to send Pain's summons flying and use the extremely powerful cooperation ninjutsu Sage Art: Goemon. This form allowed Jiraiya to use stronger versions of his other techniques. An example would include the Ultra-Big Ball Rasengan, a massive variant of Rasengan even larger than his own body. Though unseen, this version is supposedly strong enough that if it exploded, it'd have destroyed an entire mountain. As Jiraiya was not adept with genjutsu, he relied on Shima and Fukasaku to help him in that aspect.

While he would normally come off as goofy, Jiraiya had repeatedly shown himself to be a shrewd man. His intelligence enabled him to track Orochimaru and Akatsuki through the years, and he headed his own spy network all over the Five Great Shinobi Countries for this purpose. He was very knowledgeable in various techniques, able to quickly recognise them and know how to counter them. He also demonstrated being a capable teacher, as even Itachi acknowledged Naruto's growth under Jiraiya's tutelage for three years. Jiraiya was also very skilled in information gathering, as he would constantly relay any important intelligence he acquired to his allies.

Having spent years gathering information on Orochimaru and Akatsuki, and having considered the possibility they were after Naruto with the goal of obtaining the Nine-Tails, Jiraiya returned to Konoha with the goal of preparing Naruto for the upcoming threat. Jiraiya first met Naruto Uzumaki while he was doing a "research" at the hot springs in Konoha. After Jiraiya knocked out Ebisu for catching him in the act, Naruto demanded that Jiraiya become his trainer in Ebisu's place. He refused, until Naruto used his Sexy Technique. When they started training, Jiraiya removed Orochimaru's Five Elements Seal from Naruto's stomach, which allowed him to tap into the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox's chakra. To teach him how to take advantage of the Nine-Tails' reserves, Jiraiya taught Naruto how to use the Summoning Technique, but was met with very poor results. To this end, Jiraiya decided to force Naruto to use the Nine-Tails' chakra by pushing him off a cliff, as he learned that it only comes whenever his life is in risk . Naruto survived the fall by summoning Gamabunta.

With the Third's death, the village elders, Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane, requested that Jiraiya become the next Hokage, which he quickly turned down. Instead, he volunteered to search for his former team-mate, Tsunade, asking only that he be allowed to take Naruto with him.

Just a day after setting off, however, Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki of Akatsuki tried to kidnap Naruto. To do so, they used genjutsu on a woman to distract Jiraiya while they captured Naruto. Jiraiya saw through the trick, and intercepted Itachi and Kisame, who decided they did not want to get involved in a fight with one of the Sannin. When they tried to escape, Jiraiya used Summoning: Toad Mouth Bind to trap Itachi and Kisame. Nobody had ever managed to escape that technique before, but Itachi used Amaterasu to burn through the walls and escaped. After that, Naruto and Jiraiya resumed their search for Tsunade, Jiraiya teaching Naruto the Rasengan along the way to keep him occupied.

Jiraiya vs. Orochimaru.

Orochimaru found Tsunade before Jiraiya did, and asked that she heal his arms. When Jiraiya eventually found her as well, he suspected that they were in contact, and threatened Tsunade not to help Orochimaru. In response, Tsunade drugged his sake when they went to a bar, making it difficult for him to move or use chakra. After he discovered that this was so he wouldn't interfere in her attempt to kill Orochimaru, Jiraiya came to help her. In his drugged state, he struggled to fight Orochimaru, but was able to recover to the point that he could summon Gamabunta to fight Orochimaru's Manda. The healthy Tsunade proved too much for Orochimaru and Manda, defeating the two and causing them to flee. Tsunade then accepted her post as the Fifth Hokage, and they returned to Konoha.

After Naruto failed to stop Sasuke Uchiha from defecting to Orochimaru at the end of Part I, Jiraiya encouraged him to give up on Sasuke, remembering his own experiences with Orochimaru. Naruto refused, prompting Jiraiya to take him away for two-and-a-half years of training, to make him strong enough to bring Sasuke back, and to protect himself from Akatsuki.

Jiraiya appeared in a few episodes and was a major character in the Land of Rice Fields Investigation Mission, in which he travelled with Naruto and Sakura in search of Orochimaru's hideout. The trio were unable to locate Sasuke, but managed to free the Fūma clan from Orochimaru's control. He later appeared in Please, Mr. Postman!, and was present in Departure to take Naruto away for his training.

Jiraiya and Naruto have left Konoha to begin their three-year journey. As they walk, they talk about Naruto's need to overcome Sasuke's Sharingan. During a genjutsu practice, Naruto tries to disrupt his inner chakra flow, but instead, creates a wave of chakra around him thus hitting Gamariki in the physical world. To overcome this part of the training, Jiraiya takes Naruto to the Genjutsu Tree Village. After realising that the village was taken over by a man named Kandachi, Naruto and Jiraiya decide to liberate the village. As the final battle with Kandachi continued, Jiraiya and Naruto got trapped in the Conch King's Water Release Genjutsu: Mystic Fog Prison but later managed to escape thanks to Tanishi's Chilli Pepper Bomb. At the end of the battle, Naruto defeats Kandachi with his Big Ball Rasengan.

Jiraiya and Naruto return after two and half years of training and goes to Tsunade about how much progress Naruto has made. He later meets up with Kakashi with information about Akatsuki and gives him a seal to Naruto's transformation. Before Naruto's departure to retrieve Gaara, Jiraiya warns Naruto to refrain from using his inner power.

After taking Naruto back to Konoha, Jiraiya went off to search for information on Akatsuki. Jiraiya would soon return to inform Kakashi and Yamato about Naruto's four-tailed form, a form so powerful that it nearly killed Jiraiya before he managed to stop it. It was later revealed that Jiraiya himself released it (not expecting Naruto's loss of control) with a special key passed down from the Fourth Hokage, capable of unlocking Naruto's seal.

Main article: Three-Tails' Appearance
In the anime, Jiraiya returned to Konoha to congratulate Naruto on defeating Akatsuki's Kakuzu and Deidara. In order to keep Naruto from participating in Team 7's new Sasuke-related mission, Jiraiya offered to train him again, and took Naruto to Yugakure. Jiraiya and Naruto also had a discussion over the meaning of 'home': "Wherever someone is thinking of you, that is the place you can return to." In light of Naruto's need to learn some high-ranked, long-distance techniques, Jiraiya introduced Naruto to the concept of synchronised, cooperation ninjutsu and began by demonstrating a synchronised technique, the Water Release: Water Gun technique, in collaboration with Gamariki.

When Naruto and Gamariki proved unable to synchronise, due to their conflicting personalities, Jiraiya confronted Naruto with the fact that, unless he can work with a summoned toad, a cooperation ninjutsu would stay out of his reach. Naruto compensated by summoning toads that he did get along with, and, after giving up on trying to work with Gamariki, finally began on working on a synchronised technique with Gamatatsu, while Gamakichi guided the process.

Jiraiya openly applauded Naruto's progress, and expressed how pleased he was at his dedication to his goals and beliefs. After receiving a message about Akatsuki, Jiraiya was forced to leave Naruto to continue training by himself, though not before convincing Tsunade to let Naruto go on the mission.

His meeting with Tsunade and Shizune, is cut short when Naruto and Sakura enter the office. Surprised that his master had returned to the village, Naruto informs him that he finally mastered the cooperation ninjutsu with Gamakichi and Gamatatsu, impressing him. After discussing on how to capture Itachi Uchiha, Jiraiya and Tsunade got to the front gate to see the Eight Man Squad off.

After Deidara's death, Jiraiya informed Tsunade that he had found the location of the Akatsuki leader, somewhere in Amegakure. After a chat with Tsunade, revealing much of Naruto's history, amongst others who his parents were, he left to infiltrate Amegakure and see what he could find out. He captured two Rain villagers while there, and sent one to Konoha to be interrogated. After hearing that the Akatsuki leader, Pain, killed Hanzō in battle, Jiraiya decided to leave the key to the Nine-Tails' seal to Naruto, before going out to see what else he could learn.

Jiraiya stops three of the Paths.

Jiraiya eventually found Konan, and after incapacitating her with his oil, questioned what happened to her, Yahiko, and Nagato. Suddenly Pain appeared and Jiraiya recognised him as his former student, Nagato, because of his Rinnegan. Fearing that his student would destroy the world, as was warned against in the prophecy, Jiraiya tried to kill Pain. After summoning Gamaken to protect him from various summons, he entered Sage Mode, and summoned Shima and Fukasaku to help him, but had difficulty with the battle when Pain summoned additional bodies (the Preta Path and the Human Path). Although they were able to defeat three of Pain's bodies with a powerful genjutsu, Jiraiya was handicapped when Pain's Asura Path ambushed Jiraiya and somehow severed his left arm. The Asura Path was joined by the other five paths, with the first three having been reanimated. Doing the most that he could without his arm, Jiraiya managed to kill and capture the Animal Path, and ordered Shima to leave and take it to Konoha, before heading out one last time to see if he could figure out the secret behind Pain.

Jiraiya mortally wounded by Pain.

Jiraiya was able to discover that all of Pain's bodies belonged to ninja he once knew, amongst them being his old student, Yahiko, functioning as Pain's Deva Path. With this information, Jiraiya was able to discover the truth, but his throat was crushed by the Asura Path and he was pinned down to the ground by the other paths, leaving him unable to tell Fukasaku what he had learned.[22] As his life waned, he mused over his death, calling it unworthy compared to the Hokage and flashed back to his life and his failures, failing to win Tsunade's heart, failing to stop Orochimaru from leaving Konoha, and failing to protect both his master Hiruzen and his student Minato Namikaze. But when he remembered how Minato called his book a success and decided to name his son after the book's protagonist, Jiraiya realised that it was he who named him Naruto.

Jiraiya dying with a smile.

Seeing that the student's way should also be the teacher's way, Jiraiya realised that Naruto, not Nagato, was the child foretold of in the prophecy. Knowing that Naruto would someday save the world, he forced himself back to life and inscribed a coded message into Fukasaku's back and sent him to Naruto. When the Asura Path saw the coded message on Fukasaku, he attacked him with a rocket hand, destroying the rock Jiraiya was lying on, making him fall into the water. As Jiraiya died, he compared himself to the "Frog at the bottom of the well… Drifts off into the Great Ocean", calling it a more honourable death and realised that he needed a title for his next book. Finding the title "Tale of Naruto Uzumaki" perfect, Jiraiya died with a smile while sinking into the watery depths of the battlefield.[23]

Although the next arc played out after his death, Jiraiya still had a great impact on the events that happened during it. With the message that he left on Fukasaku's back "the real one isn't among them" allowed Konoha to learn the nature of Nagato's Paths of Pain technique which ultimately helped Naruto Uzumaki in defeating Nagato's paths before facing him in person. Having inherited their mentor's ideals of peace being gained by ending hatred, Naruto convinced Nagato to redeem himself in the end.

Soon time after, Naruto created a memorial to Jiraiya in the woods near Konoha, adorned with symbols of high importance: A rock with the kanji for 'teacher' (師, shi), Jiraiya's first novel The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi, and Konan's bouquet of "never-dying flowers of hope". Later on, Kabuto revealed that he attempted to retrieve Jiraiya's body to bring him back through Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation, but it was far too deep in the ocean for him to reach without being crushed by the water pressure. However, he noted that Tobi should still have enough DNA on the Six Paths of Pain's weapons but was refused.[24]

Obito comments on how Jiraiya was the one who defeated him, as Nagato and Naruto's master.

Later during the Fourth Shinobi World War, Tsunade noted that Jiraiya would not have died if Orochimaru had changed. Orochimaru countered that even if he had lived Jiraiya would have changed instead of dying without changing.[25] Betrayed by Nagato and defeated by Naruto, Obito comes to the conclusion that with the two as the disciples of Jiraiya, the Sannin was the one who defeated him in a sense.[26]

Most of Jiraiya's appearances were more spiritual than actually appearing. When Naruto was sent on a mission without Kakashi or Yamato, Jiraiya gave Naruto, through Sakura, a small package. After Naruto transformed into his four-tailed form, the package was revealed to be a small seal charm, to force Naruto back to normal. Jiraiya then appeared again as a hallucination, pushing Naruto to fight on. In the end, Jiraiya finally made a physical appearance by saving his apprentice and Amaru from certain death by summoning Gamabunta to cushion their fall.

Jiraiya met with a group of Sunagakure shinobi and talked with Gaara. Later, he took a message from Gaara to a ravine, where Suna and Konoha forces were ready to battle. He stayed there and talked to Tsunade after Suna withdrew from the war.

Jiraiya is named after the character of the same name from a Japanese folklore "The Tale of the Gallant Jiraiya" (児雷也豪傑物語, Jiraiya Gōketsu Monogatari). The Jiraiya in this story is vastly different than his manga counterpart in terms of personality and relationships, however both individuals excelled in summoning a giant toad (the toad itself was sometimes called "Jiraiya") and toad magic. In that story, Jiraiya and Tsunade were a married couple. There, his name is written as "児雷也" meaning "Young Thunder", which in turn comes from the name Garaiya (我来也, Literally meaning: I came) from the Chinese story Kaishi (諧史). As the character was about to die, he made a reference to the story.

Masashi Kishimoto originally planned to draw Jiraiya with a different design, and with a different style of hair. He also intended for Jiraiya to summon toads that were of a similar size to humans. However, this idea was deemed a failure. During an interview, he commented that, of the student-teacher relationships in Naruto, Jiraiya and Naruto's is the one he likes the most.

Jiraiya completed 1,839 official missions in total: 58 D-rank, 345 C-rank, 684 B-rank, 614 A-rank, 138 S-rank. With this rating of mission completion by Jiraiya, he has the most completed missions of all characters in the entire Naruto series.

Jiraiya is tied with Itachi Uchiha as having the highest stats total in the databook.

Jiraiya's last words were based off of a Japanese proverb 'I no naka no kawazu taikai o shirazu' which translates literally to 'A frog in a well does not know the great ocean'.

Although Jiraiya is always seen using his trademark horned forehead protector with the kanji for 'Oil' (油, abura), he is briefly seen using the standard Konoha's forehead protector during a flashback with Kakashi regarding's Tsunade bust size. [28]

It's unknown if this was a continuity error made by Kishimoto, since old Jiraiya always uses his horned forehead protector, and only used Konoha's when he was young.

(To Nagato) "When people get hurt, they learn to hate… when people hurt others, they become hated and racked with guilt. But knowing that pain allows people to be kind. Pain allows people to grow… and how you grow is up to you."[30]

(To Orochimaru) "You're wrong, that's not what makes a shinobi. You never did get it, a real ninja is one who endures no matter what gets thrown at him… Let me explain something to you, there is only one thing that matters if you are a shinobi, and it isn't the number of techniques you possess. All you do need, is the guts to never give up."[32]

(To Naruto) "Even I can tell that hatred is spreading. I wanted to do something about it … but I don't know what … but I believe… that someday the day will come when people truly understand one another!! If I can't find the answer, it will be up to you to do it!!"[33]

(To Naruto) "They say wherever someone is still thinking of you, that place is your home."[34]

(To Naruto) "I think we all have to acknowledge you. Gamatatsu, Gamakichi, Sakura, Tsunade… and I… we all admit you've worked really hard. But I wonder what's pushing you forward."[35]

(To Tsunade) "Now my job is to help the next generation, and set a good example for them. And for that I'll gladly lay down my life, and I'll be smiling the whole time. It's what makes us old guys cool, you see."[36]

(To Naruto) "Never go back on your word… and never give up. That's your ninja way… and as your mentor… I have no business whining! Because… the student's ninja way should be the master's too! Isn't that so, Naruto?!"[37]

(Last words) "The true measure of a shinobi is not how he lives but how he dies. It's not what they do in life, but what they did before dying that proves their worth. Thinking back of it, my story is one full of failures. Tsunade rejected me every time. I couldn't save my friend, I failed to protect my student… and my teacher. Compared with the Hokage who came before me, my accomplishments have all been petty and insignificant. I wanted to die like them…" [38]

(Last words) "There, that ending… was a little better. The frog at the bottom of the well drifts off into the great ocean. Heh heh… yep… pretty damn honourable… pretty damn honourable… I guess it's time to put down my pen. Right… I need a title for the next book… let's see… Ah, got it… "The Tale of Naruto Uzumaki"… perfect."[23]